Trans Twitch streamer arrested at gunpoint after evil trolls report fake death threats
Trans Twitch streamer Keffals addressing her recent arrest. (Keffals/YouTube)
A trans Twitch streamer was met by armed police after online harassers used her address and information to report a fake domestic incident.
Clara Sorrenti, known online as Keffals, fell victim to a harassment tactic known as “swatting.”
The term refers to the act of calling police to a person’s home by fraudulently reporting a major domestic disturbance – often murder or a bomb threat – in order to get armed officers to raid their building.
Sorrenti was woken up by armed London Ontario police officers at her door on Friday (5 August).
When she opened the door, she was met with an officer pointing a firearm at her, she told Global News.
“When I went into the hallway and then saw that assault rifle, I screamed and I thought I was going to die,” Sorrenti said.
The search warrant given to Sorrenti suggested police were looking for a handgun, ammunition, and several electronic devices.
“During the search, they seized my work computer, my work cellphone, my personal cellphone, as well as my fiance’s work computer and personal cellphone,” she explained.
https://twitter.com/keffalsbackup/status/1557373303257501696
Police confirmed the arrest.
“London police were contacted by London City Hall indicating that several individuals had received a letter threatening potential violence against individuals with City Hall later that same day,” said a spokesperson.
“Officers commenced an investigation and through evidence obtained, were successful in obtaining Judicial Authority to search a residence.”
‘I was terrified’
Several emails – similar to ones that have been used on previous swatting victims, falsely using Sorrenti’s details – were reportedly sent to city councillors claiming that she had killed her mother and was intending to come after “you city council members who made my life hell.”
They also falsely claimed that she was going to kill anyone who was cis or straight.
Sorrenti regularly receives death threats due to being a well-known Twitch streamer and trans woman. But this was a level far beyond the harassment she’d experienced previously, she said.
“I was terrified. I had no idea what was going to happen and still don’t know what is really going to come of all this.”
“It’s only been a few days, every now and then I think back to it and I feel just stuck.
“It’s kind of a terrifying thought that anyone can just take your name on an anonymous email, upload any picture of a gun, and a SWAT team will be sent to your house and you’ll have to stare down an assault rifle.”
The Twitch streamer has used a backup Twitter account to post a YouTube video titled “My life is in danger. I need your help.”
https://twitter.com/keffalsbackup/status/1557019598544855041
The video outlined her experiences while in police custody, including several accounts of deadnaming, and references to her as “your son” to her mother.
Several of her tweets since the incident show she is intending to move home imminently in an attempt to stop harassers from pulling the same stunt again. She posted a GoFundMe page for moving costs and a legal fund.
