Old news I know. However, there was a story on the radio the other day that hit a little close to home, and it got me thinking. Just what is the result the false callers are hoping? Do they even care about the ramifications of the actions they take?
I live up in the wholly wild northern half of British Columbia. I’m surrounded by native reserves and wealthy retirement communities… and resource extraction towns. It’s not what I would call danger central. We have our ups and downs, and the occasional weird shit is going on, but hey, people are people, and life is fucked that way.
There’s this out of the way retirement town which sports maybe 300 people in it. A family got swatted, a 75yo mother was shot dead, followed by her 39yo son. Here is what I can gather. The police were called, from a nearby town, for a case of hostile gunfire; this is a half hour drive for the cops, under normal driving speeds. They surrounded the house, and when she exited the house, she was shot for appearing threatening, and when her son came out he was shot. The father claims the son was mentally deficient. This is a town where if someone spits in your face, it’s front page news; so what the ever living fuck???
I’ve been thinking about this over the weekend. I don’t know if this has anything to do with #gamergate (GG), but let me take you down the rabbit hole of wonder I’ve been wrestling with.
The bulk of gamers are from my generation, about 30-45yo; I’m 39. I have vague memories of Atari, arcades; my first console was a Nintendo NES; nor am I the smartest person in the neighborhood. I’m not a gamer, so much as I have a handful of games which I enjoy, but I support #gamergate. Here’s where things get ugly…
Several GG’s have been swatted, have any been killed? I don’t know; I’m not up to date on that. MundaneMatt took the initiative to cover his ass before he got swatted; thus, he was given the opportunity to cooperate before they tackled him. Even so… what steps have GG’s, particularly the vocal GG’s, taken to ensure we know something happened to them.
Was this swatting related to GG? We may never know. The police report says they are investigating, but blatantly state that they will not be releasing further details for the foreseeable future. You now know the total of what I know (minus location).
Let’s entertain the idea that it is a GG swatting. Unless I’m much mistaken, there would be only one person who would know about it, and that would be the false caller. As for the rest of us, those up to date on GG that is, all we would know, is that someone (probably a ridiculous name like “shitfarter_69er”) just vanished from the internet, just up and walked away from his activism, just suddenly quit arguing the cause. That one person may not even get to know what they caused, only that they silenced an opposition.
#GamerGate has won some real victories. But it’s got no leadership. I have to ask this of GG big wigs. Has anyone kept a list of the vocal GG’s? Are they all still vocal? Those who aren’t, are they still around?
I think I’m being silly. Pessimistic precautions are always silly sounding.
If you are fighting the GG fight, SJW or Feminist critique whether a big wig or a keyboard warrior, you need to consider making an easily identifiable statement, at least in your room. Something like a construction paper poster (or your PC wallpaper or something) which says #GamerGate, along with the various names you use in the forums you frequently battle. I may be being overly optimistic in this, but I’m hoping that the police during their investigation (should they shoot someone again), will report that John Doe, a GamerGater alias “shitfarter_69er” on Tumbler was killed on X date blah blah. If you’re brave enough to face this very real internet terrorism, do ME a favor, and secure your posthumous death knell; lest you join the ranks of unmarked graves lost to the winds of time.
