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    • California teenager pleads guilty to making hundreds of searches
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    California teenager pleads guilty to making hundreds of searches

    Harry Posted on

    Prosecutors called Alan W. Filion a “serial attacker for both profit and entertainment” and said he posted his first hit experience online.

    A Southern California teenager has pleaded guilty to making more than 375 threats and threats against religious institutions, schools and other organizations across the country.

    Alan W. Filion, 18, pleaded guilty to a charge of making an interstate threat with intent to injure the person of another person. US Department of Justice he said in a news release Wednesday.

    The searches were conducted between August 2022 and January 2024, and Filion was arrested in California on January 18.

    The Ministry of Justice said that the young man, who described Filion as “a serial attack for both profit and entertainment purposes”, shared his first hit experience on social media.

    In January 2023, he said the first attack occurred 2 to 3 years before the mission. The Department of Justice added in its press release that it “decided to turn this into a business 6-9 months ago.” He also advertised his swatting services.

    Lawyers representing Filion said Thursday morning they would not comment on the case.

    The youth was accused of: Florida teenager wearing Trump shirt accused of punching 70-year-old Harris supporter at rally

    Teenager shared many posts online about shakedown tactics

    Filion lives in Lancaster, California, which is part of Los Angeles County, and is accused of making threatening calls and saying he had planted bombs in certain locations. The Justice Department also said he would detonate bombs or commit mass murder.

    The suspect targeted religious institutions, high schools, colleges and universities, government officials and others across the country, according to prosecutors. He was 16 when he made most of the calls.

    The Justice Department said calls were directed to multiple police officers and emergency services. The agency said he gave false names to authorities and made false claims.

    “During the time dispatchers spent on the phone with Filion, they were unavailable to respond to other emergencies,” the Justice Department said in its statement. “In addition, armed law enforcement officers were dispatched to targeted addresses in response to many of his calls and were likewise made unavailable to respond to other emergencies.”

    In some cases, police officers responding to calls entered houses with their guns drawn and detained people in the houses.

    In a post dated January 20, 2023, Filion said his goal in attacking was to have “cops drag the victim and their families out of the house, handcuff them, and search the house for a body.”

    What charges did the teenager admit to?

    Filion accepted four threatening calls in total this week:

    • October 2022 – The suspect called a public high school in the Western District of Washington and threatened to commit a mass shooting. He claimed that he planted bombs all over the school.
    • May 2023 – The suspect targeted a religious institution in Sanford, Florida, approximately 45 miles northeast of Orlando. He said he was in possession of an illegally modified AR-15, a Glock 17 handgun, pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails. The Justice Department said he claimed he would “carry out a mass attack” and “kill everyone” in front of him.
    • May 2023 – Suspect called a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Northern District of Florida. He said he placed bombs on the walls and ceilings of residences on campus that would explode in about an hour.
    • July 2023 – The suspect called the dispatch number for the local police department in the Western District of Texas and pretended to be a senior federal law enforcement officer. He gave an officer his residential address and claimed that he had killed his mother. He also threatened to kill responding police officers.

    ‘Fear and chaos’

    Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in the news release that the Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable those who use threats and attacks to harm communities. He said he spent more than a year making threats that instilled “fear and chaos” in the communities he targeted.

    FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate also emphasized in the statement that the young man was trying to make money by attacking and threatening.

    “Swatting poses serious danger to first responders and victims, wastes significant time and resources, and creates fear in communities,” Abbate said in a statement.

    Filion faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on both counts. The Ministry of Justice said he will be sentenced on February 11, 2025.

    Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s NOW team. He is from Norfolk, Virginia – 757. Follow him on Twitter: @SaleenMartin or email him [email protected].

    Harry
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