Teen Behind Hundreds of Swatting Attacks Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges

According to emails reviewed by WIRED, that information was central to how the FBI broke the case and was the basis of subpoenas sent to Discord and Google in April of 2023 seeking information on accounts Dennis had identified. By early May, the FBI had successfully pinpointed Torswats’ identity and location.

That month, Torswats privately took responsibility for swatting incidents in Telegram chats reviewed by WIRED. These incidents affected up to 25 schools in Washington state, impacting approximately 18,116 students and costing taxpayers an estimated $271,173 in lost instructional time, according to Don Beeler, CEO of TDR Technology Solutions, a company specializing in school surveillance and threat analysis.

Additionally, 911 audio and other police records obtained by WIRED corroborate that the same individual made the calls for more than a dozen of these swatting incidents. In some instances, the caller told dispatchers he had been commanded by Satan to kill students. In others, he said he had been mistreated because he was gay. In others, he seemed to have become bored enough with the game that he didn’t bother to make up a reason.

On July 12, the Torswats handle announced a new swatting operation dubbed the “Grand Offensive,” targeting a dozen senators. Three days later, the FBI raided Filion’s home and seized his electronic devices.

But the raid didn’t stop the swatting.

On November 6, 2023, someone using the Torswats handle took responsibility for a bomb threat aimed at North Beach High School in Ocean Shores, Washington, through a Telegram message. According to police reports and call records obtained by WIRED, the caller impersonated a drug dealer who wanted to report his client to the police because he had said he had placed pipe bombs around the school and was planning a mass shooting. That same month, a person going by Torswats also admitted to swatting an investigator and cybercrime expert named Keven Hendricks in private Telegram communications.

Both threats could be attributed to the same individual, according to a law enforcement official who reviewed the recordings for WIRED but requested anonymity because they were unauthorized to speak to the press.

Details about Filion’s life outside his online activities remain sparse. Enrollment records from Lancaster’s Antelope Valley Community College show that Filion began pursuing a degree in mathematics in the fall of 2022. A former classmate, who requested anonymity due to fears of retaliation, described Filion as quiet and “forgettable.”

“He didn’t appear to have many friends,” they said.

In January 2024, an individual affiliated with the Torswats Telegram account and claiming to be a friend of Filion suggested that he was part of a group aiming to incite racial violence and that he sought money to “buy weapons and commit a mass shooting.” The allegation aligns with a written tip, placed to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in April 2023 and obtained by WIRED, alleging that the person behind the Torswats account was involved in a neo-Nazi cult known as the Order of Nine Angles.

“He believes he is doing his part to bring about the end of days by ‘bleeding the finances and man hours of the system,’” the tipster wrote.

Filion’s family could not be immediately reached for comment. A sentencing date for the teenager has not yet been set.

Updated at 10:45 am EST, November, 2024: Added additional details about Filion’s involvement in swatting attacks against prominent US government officials and others.