Background: Arrest affidavit records allegedly show 17-year-old Alan Filion, (inset) now being tried as an adult, boasting of being paid for his serial criminal “swatting” techniques.
A 17-year-old from California who allegedly made threatening phone calls vowing to shoot up a mosque, kill members of the FBI and target victims ranging from students on high school and college campuses to the Pentagon, has been arrested after he was extradited to Florida.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime Thursday, prosecutors say Alan Filion’s computer turned up a long list of disturbing searches including the lengthy entry: “Execute them. Kill them. Behead them. Roadhouse kick them into the concrete. Slam dunk them into the trashcan. Crucify them. Curb stomp them. Report them to the IRS. Twist their heads off. Crush their heads in the trash compactor. Liquefy them in a vat of avid. Exterminate them in the execution chamber. Stomp their skulls with steel toed boots…”
He also allegedly looked up “how many jews are in the US,” “satanic rituals” and “criminal mastermind swatting.”
His arrest was first announced in a statement from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. Police said officers received a call last May from a male who said he was going inside the Masjid Al Hayy Mosque in Sanford, Florida, to conduct a mass shooting.
“The caller made references to Satanism and stated he had handgun and explosive devices. He then began playing audio of gunfire in the background. In response to the call, approximately 30 law enforcement officers respond to the MasjidAl Hayy Mosque. After arriving on the scene and finding no shooter and the mosque staff safe, it was determined to be a swatting incident,” police said.
Court records reviewed by Law&Crime allege Filion made calls far and wide and bragged about being paid for his criminal hoaxes. He made swatting calls in October 2022 to a police department and high school in Skagit County, Washington. On at least five occasions, he threatened to bomb, shoot or otherwise wreak havoc. Police say Filion tried to pin the call on another student.
He allegedly bragged online about owning body armor and pipe bombs that he would use as grenades and vowed to kill homosexuals and their “enablers.”
He also posted records of threats made to emergency services in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Houston, Maryland and Iowa. Most were high schools, and at least one was a nongovernmental organization in Bethesda, Maryland, that researches extremism.
The FBI said Filion would encourage people to place “orders” with him to make the dangerous calls. On Telegram and other social media spaces, police say he often used handles, gamer tags or screen names invoking the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings making their work piecing the trail back to Filion together easier.
He will be back in court in Florida on March 19. Whether he will be charged in other venues where he swatted victims is open-ended for now. Each jurisdiction can prosecute him if they wish.
Filion is being held without bail. His attorney did not immediately return a request for comment to Law&Crime Thursday.
He is facing four charges in Florida including false report concerning the planting of a bomb or explosive, unlawful use of a two-way communication device while facilitating or furthering an act of terrorism; false report to law enforcement concerning the commission of a capital felony while facilitating or furthering an act of terrorism; and false report to law enforcement causing public safety agency response (Swatting) while facilitating or furthering an act of terrorism.
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