Live-Streamed Crime

 

Livestreamed crime is a phenomenon in which criminal acts are publicly livestreamed on social media platforms such as Twitch or Facebook Live.

Because live-streams are accessible instantaneously, it is difficult to quickly detect and moderate violent content, and almost impossible to protect the privacy of victims or bystanders. Livestreaming crime allows anyone from the public to become a distant witness.

"Trash streaming" is a YouTube subculture in which live-streamers solicit donations in exchange for carrying out dares on-stream, which are often abusive or criminal.

History

In April 2016, Marina Lonina, age 18; and Raymond Gates, age 29, were arrested in Ohio, US, on charges that Gates raped an underage friend of Lonina's while Lonina live streamed the crime on Periscope. The prosecutor pointed out that Lonina, who was taken advantage of by a much older man, had become "caught up" in her excitement over the number of "likes" she was getting, and is shown on screen "laughing and giggling". Joss Wright of the Oxford Internet Institute pointed out that, given the "volume of content being created and uploaded every day, [there] is almost no practical way to prevent content like this being uploaded and shared".

By May, The New York Times was including the Periscope rape as one of a series of recent cases in which crimes were live-streamed. These included one in which a young woman in Égly, France, spoke via Periscope about her distress and suicidal thoughts and was apparently encouraged by viewers to kill herself, which she did by throwing herself under a train. Also included was the case of two teenagers who live-streamed themselves bragging and laughing as they beat up a drunken man in a bar in Bordeaux, France.

Types

Cybersex trafficking

Cybersex trafficking also referred to as live-streaming sexual abuse, involves sex trafficking and the live streaming of coerced sexual abuse or rape. Victims are abducted, threatened, or deceived and transferred to "cybersex dens". The dens can be in any location where the cybersex traffickers have a computer, tablet, or phone with an Internet connection. Perpetrators use social media networks, videoconferencing, pornographic video-sharing websites, dating pages, chat rooms, apps, dark websites, and other online platforms. Online payment systems and cryptocurrencies are often used for anonymity. Millions of reports of cybersex trafficking are sent to authorities annually. Local authorities in Cambodia have expressed concern that new laws and police procedures are necessary to combat this type of cybercrime.

War crimes and cyberterrorism

A war crime is the act of breaking the laws of war, and in recent years, there have been more instances of people or groups live-streaming such acts to instill fear into the public. Some groups create websites or use the dark web to host these live streams. Many times, the videos are of hostages or prisoners of war that are used as leverage or as a means of exerting fear and control.

Instances

2008

8 June: A bystander livestreamed the Akihabara massacre on Ustream, attracting an audience of 2,000 viewers. Another user also used Ustream to live-stream the massacre's aftermath, including police and public response.

2015

12 July: Two West Weber, Utah, teenagers were arrested after filming themselves stealing ice cream from a truck while live-streaming on Periscope.

2016

14 June: 27-year-old Antonio Perkins was fatally shot while streaming on Facebook Live in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood.

1 August: Korryn Gaines of Randallstown, Maryland livestreamed her actions on Facebook and Instagram as she resisted arrest and started an armed standoff with the police, which ended with Gaines being fatally shot and her five-year-old son sustaining injuries to his face and arm after being hit by stray bullets.

November: A Jackson, Michigan man livestreamed himself breaking into a home and shooting a woman on Facebook Live.

2017

1 January: A Reynoldsburg, Ohio woman livestreamed herself taping her toddler to a wall on Facebook Live. She later uploaded a video taunting viewers who had called child protective services on her.

3 January: A torture incident in Chicago, in which an 18-year-old mentally disabled white male was filmed being physically and verbally abused by four black individuals (two men and two women), was live-streamed by one of the women on Facebook and sparked massive controversy.

21 January: In Uppsala, Sweden, two Afghan immigrants and one Swedish citizen live-streamed the gang rape of a woman on Facebook.

10 April: A Los Angeles man shot at passing cars and police officers while livestreaming on Facebook Live.

16 April: A Cleveland man livestreamed the Killing of Robert Godwin Sr.

24 April: A Phuket man livestreamed himself killing his newborn daughter on Facebook. He soon after committed suicide.

2018

22 February: A Middletown, Connecticut man livestreamed himself on Facebook Live as he drove through the front doors of a hospital, before setting himself on fire. The man was treated for burn injuries and arrested.

4 April: A Detroit teenager accidentally shot his friend while playing with a gun on Instagram Live.

26 August: David Katz shot 12 people during a video game tournament, killing two. The shooting was live-streamed by the event's Twitch stream.

10 December: An Australian man struck his girlfriend after a live-streamed altercation that ensued while the man was playing Fortnite. The man pleaded guilty to assault.

2019

15 March: Two mass shootings occurred at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, where 51 people were killed and 40 were injured by 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant from Australia. The first attack was livestreamed by the shooter on Facebook Live for 17 minutes; they were described by then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as "one of the darkest days in New Zealand history". Following the shootings, Facebook announced restrictions on Facebook Live on those who posted violent extremist material.

22 March: Vlad Cristian Eremia, 26, stabbed a 77-year-old Catholic priest, Father Claude Grou, in Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; the attack was captured on a live-stream by Salt + Light Television.

9 October: Stephan Balliet committed a shooting near a synagogue and kebab restaurant in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, resulting in two dead and two others injured; the attack was live-streamed on Twitch.

29 December: Keith Thomas Kinnunen opened fire at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, US, fatally shooting two people before he was shot and killed by an armed member of the congregation. The shooting was live-streamed on YouTube because the church live-streamed its services.

2020

8 February: Thai Army Sergeant Jakrapanth Thomma killed 29 and wounded 57 people in a mass shooting in Thailand. A portion of the shooting at the Terminal 21 Korat mall was live-streamed by the perpetrator on Facebook Live.

20 May: Armando "Junior" Hernandez, a 20-year-old live-streamed his attack at the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, Arizona, US where three people were wounded, on Snapchat.

26 May: A man in Stamford, Connecticut live-streamed himself on Instagram on a highway overpass saying he thought people were following him. He then began to fire on passing vehicles on the road below.

July: A Tallahassee, Florida teen was murdered while live-streaming on Instagram in a church parking lot.

8 November: A Las Vegas man killed his girlfriend at her home while live on Facebook. Shortly before the live-stream, the man also killed the woman's grandfather.

2021

6 January: Far-right personality Anthime Gionet, better known as "Baked Alaska", took part in the storming of the U.S. Capitol and live-streamed the event on DLive.

22 March: Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa, age 21, shot and killed ten people in a mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, US. A portion of the shooting at a King Soopers supermarket was live-streamed on YouTube by a bystander.

10 April: A Singapore student abroad in London was attacked with a knife during a robbery streamed by a bystander on YouTube.

29 April: A Prichard, Alabama man live-streamed himself abusing his wife on Facebook Live.

7 June: A Rochester, New York woman threatened to shoot a man and a woman throughout four live-streams done on Facebook Live.

19 August: 15-year-old Hugo Jackson livestreamed himself via Twitch stabbing a faculty member at his secondary school in Eslöv, Sweden. The attacker used a head-mounted camera on a helmet to live-stream the attack and wore body armor similar to Brenton Tarrant, whom he had quoted in his manifesto.

20 August: 19-year-old Aidan Ingalls shot a man to death and critically injured his wife on the South Haven Pier before turning the gun on himself halfway down. The entire shooting lasted around a minute and was captured on WWMT's beach camera, which was being live-streamed on YouTube.

25 September: After threatening to kill somebody on a separate video, a 27-year-old Orlando, Florida man placed his phone against a trash can and livestreamed himself on Facebook attacking two police officers with a brick.

2022

15 January: Malik Faisal Akram took multiple people hostage at Congregation Beth Israel, a Jewish synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, United States. A portion of the hostage-taking was live-streamed on the synagogue's Facebook account.

18 April: A Baton Rouge, Louisiana man fatally stabbed a woman while she was on Facebook Live.

14 May: Payton S. Gendron killed 10 people and injured three others while live-streaming the shooting on Twitch, inside and in the parking lot of the Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, New York, US. 11 of the 13 people shot were black.

15 June: A West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana reserve deputy filmed himself on Facebook firing at a fleeing vehicle as he and a full-time deputy investigated a vehicle theft. The reserve deputy was fired and later charged with illegal discharge of a weapon.

28 June: A Ypsilanti, Michigan, man was shot and killed on Facebook Live due to a purported argument.

24 July: Brooklyn-based pastor Lamor Whitehead and his wife were robbed of more than $1,000,000 worth of jewelry during a live-streamed church service.

7 September: During a shooting spree in Memphis, Tennessee, Ezekiel Kelly, a 19-year-old man, live-streamed himself on Facebook Live entering an AutoZone store and critically wounding an employee.

22 December: A Handsworth, West Midlands man stabbed three people, killing one, in a "drink and drug-fuelled rampage" on Facebook Live.

2023

25 March: A Columbus, Mississippi woman fatally shot a man in a domestic violence incident on Facebook Live.

26 March: At a Starbucks in Vancouver, British Columbia, 37-year-old Paul Schmidt was fatally stabbed by Inderdeep Singh Gosal after requesting him not to vape around his young daughter. Bystander Alex Bodger live-streamed and commentated to TikTok Schmidt bleeding to death without offering any assistance.

10 April: 25-year-old Connor James Sturgeon live-streamed on Instagram as he opened fire at a bank he previously worked at in Louisville, Kentucky, killing five and wounding eight before being fatally shot by police.

25 April: Two women in Holmes County, Mississippi were fatally shot on Facebook Live after a fight.

27 April: A Minneapolis man barricaded himself for several hours in a standoff with the FBI before being fatally shot; all while livestreaming on Facebook Live.

23 May: Two men were attacked with a knife while live-streaming on Douyin in Xiamen, China.

7 June: A Shreveport, Louisiana woman "fired wildly" during an argument on a Facebook Live broadcast.

16 June: A Doda, Jammu and Kashmir man murdered a relative with an axe during a Facebook Live broadcast.

23 July: After murdering his ex-girlfriend and her sister, a Tallahassee, Florida man streamed his suicide on Facebook Live.

August: An Oklahoma teenager was accidentally shot in the face by another teenager.

11 August: A Gradačac man shot and killed his ex-wife and two other people live on Instagram. He also wounded a police officer and two others before killing himself.

7 October: During the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas fighters live-streamed the attack through Facebook Live, sometimes from phones stolen from Israelis.

9 October: An 18-year-old Hebron man live-streamed on Facebook as he attempted to attack Israeli soldiers with a construction vehicle.

20 October: Two San Antonio teenagers accused of a fatal drive-by shooting live-streamed a car chase and their subsequent arrest on Instagram Live.

22 October: A San Antonio man shot at a dog during a live-stream.

29 October: A shooting during Halloween festivities at Ybor City, a neighborhood in Tampa, which resulted in two dead, was live-streamed on Instagram Live by victims.

5 November: A Calamba, Misamis Occidental radio host was shot and killed during a Facebook Live broadcast.

12 December: A group of friends in a Miami-Dade County rental were live-streaming when their house was shot at in a drive-by shooting, wounding a woman.

12 December: An Uber driver in Mexico was shot dead during a struggle while driving and streaming on TikTok.

15 December: 54-year-old Serhiy Batryn detonated three grenades during a meeting at Keretsky town hall, killing one and wounding 26. The meeting was being live-streamed at the time of the attack.

19 December: A Doncaster man stabbed and wounded a person on Facebook Live.

2024

2 January: A Waukesha, Wisconsin man engaged in a shootout with police on Facebook Live following a domestic violence call.

4 January: Student Dylan Butler live-streamed a mass shooting at his high school in Perry, Iowa, killing two people and injuring six others before committing suicide.

8 January: A San Rafael, California woman stabbed her mother to death on Facebook Live.

8 February: Indian politician Mauris Noronha shot and killed his rival Abhishek Ghosalkaron on Facebook Live before killing himself.

13 April: A man live-streamed himself as he fired several shots from a rifle while on the roof of a Marina Del Rey, California apartment building.

29 April: A 22-year-old Decatur, Illinois woman struck, bit, and stabbed a woman on Facebook Live. She was charged with aggravated battery.

9 May: A Korean YouTuber fatally stabbed another YouTuber on a live-stream.

23 May: A Fort Wayne, Indiana man fired several shots at a random person inside a Kroger supermarket while on Facebook Live.

31 May: The 2024 Mannheim stabbing, in which an Islamic extremist stabbed a police officer to death and wounded five other people during an anti-Islam rally, was captured on a YouTube livestream.

7 June: As he disputed with homeless people in downtown Spokane, Washington, a live-streaming YouTuber shot and wounded a man. The YouTuber was sentenced to three years in prison.

26 June: 19-year-old Australian Jordan Patten live-streamed himself attempting to commit a mass stabbing in Newcastle, New South Wales, but eventually gave up. No one was injured.

12 August: 18-year-old Arda Küçükyetim live-streamed himself stabbing and injuring five people outside a mosque in Eskişehir, Turkey.

2 September: A University of the West Indies student was killed and another man wounded on a TikTok live-stream.

5 November: A man assaulted an Arizona Department of Child Safety employee at an agency office in Mesa, livestreaming himself on Facebook and placing the employee in a chokehold. The attacker was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder.

5 November: A Florida woman live-streamed the murder of a 34-year-old woman in Sanford. The woman streamed her girlfriend, 35-year-old Savon Chantay Tyler, bringing a gun and baseball bat to the victim's apartment before a physical altercation ensued and Tyler shot the victim.

30 November: A 17-year-old student live-streamed a hammer attack on two classmates at a school in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

7 December: A Jamaican TikToker was shot to death on a live-stream in Saint Catherine Parish.

2025

22 January: A 17-year-old student at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee live-streamed a shooting on Kick, killing one student and injuring another before killing himself.

29 January: Salwan Momika, a Swedish former Muslim and atheistic critic of Islam known for burning the Quran in public, was shot and killed on a TikTok live-stream at his home in Södertälje.

2 March: Twitch streamers Valkyrae, Emiru, and Cinna were stalked by a man while live-streaming their visit to Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier. After they denied giving him their phone numbers, he attempted to physically assault the women and verbally threatened to kill them.

11 March: 22-year-old Japanese female streamer Airi Sato was stabbed to death in Tokyo, Japan, while live-streaming herself walking through the streets on the WhoWatch livestreaming app. The woman suffered multiple stab wounds to her head, neck and abdomen. She was found unconscious at the scene and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The attacker, 42-year-old Kenji Takato, had calmly carried out the assault and was later apprehended at the scene by police officers.

15 March: A gunman opened fire at a pool tournament in Bogota, Colombia, killing two people and wounding four others. The shooting was captured on a livestream.

19 April: A 42-year-old Greek man was shot and killed in Kallithea while streaming on Facebook Live.

28 April: A 25-year-old Jamaican was shot and killed by a gunman in Red Hills while livestreaming on TikTok.

11 May: Four people were killed, including politician Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez and three others were wounded in a mass shooting at a campaign march in Texistepec, Mexico. Gunfire was captured on a Facebook livestream.

13 May: A 23-year-old Mexican beauty influencer was killed in a targeted shooting in Zapopan while livestreaming on TikTok.

20 May: A 16-year-old student was arrested after live-streaming himself wounding three female classmates with a knife at a school in Pirkkala, Finland.

8 June: A 44-year-old YouTuber and his 43-year-old wife were shot and killed as he live-streamed on the Las Vegas Strip near the Bellagio Fountains. A 41-year-old man, another YouTuber who reportedly had a feud with the victims, was charged with murder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livestreamed_crime