Twitch streamer Keffals left terrified after getting swatted: “My life is in danger”
YouTube, keffalsTwitch streamer Clara ‘Keffals’ Sorrenti has been left fearing for her life after being swatted by police for a crime she never committed.
The content creator has over 40,000 followers on her Twitch channel, where she streams regularly.
On August 5, she was swatted at her home at night, in London, Canada. They woke up to officers pointing an assault rifle their way while in bed.
Police swatting incidents are becoming more common for Twitch streamers, often caused by false reports to local officials.
Two days later, she posted an update on her personal situation after fans were worried about her. She said: “I’m alive. A lot of crazy sh*t happened to me. I’ll be making a statement soon after I talk to my lawyer. I love you all. Take care of yourselves.”
Keffals says “life in danger” after being swatted
On August 9, Keffals posted a video to her YouTube channel with the caption: “My life is in danger. I need your help.”
She was swatted after an email impersonating her was sent to every city councilor in the area stating she had an illegal firearm, at 6 AM in the morning. Police services responded quickly by swatting her property.
Keffals says she was told the email stated that she had already killed her Mother – and intended to fire at other people inside the city hall. “It was an obvious attempt to make the police humiliate me,” she said.
Keffals has stated her intentions to move home immediately, urging her fans and the wider public to make donations to her GoFundMe page.
A tweet said: “Because publicizing what happened is going to encourage more people to impersonate me and attempt to get the police to terrorize me, I need to move immediately. Any money I receive after recouping my losses and moving will be put towards a legal fund.”
The police searched for a firearm, ammunition, cartridges, gun case, and other items before realizing the email was fake.
Keffals says the incident has “completely destroyed” the lives of herself and her fiance, with computers and cell phones being taken away by the police. The process of having these items looked over by digital forensic professionals could take “months” according to her lawyer.
The political streamer says this was a hate crime of identity theft against her for being transgender – and accused police of “terrorizing” her during the process.
She has since spent thousands to replace that equipment and has been released with no charges, but is still a suspect in the criminal investigation that is ongoing.