A US-based drag queen was the victim of doxxing and swatting after an online troll accused her of murder.
On 9 November, Las Vegas drag queen Elix was streaming on Twitch for their thousands of followers as part of the drag collective Stream Queens.
Their gameplay was abruptly interrupted when a group of police officers showed up outside their door demanding for them to come out.
After exiting the property, they were told that dispatch received a call that accused them of murdering their brother and attempting to take their own life.
The accusation was swiftly debunked, and Elix realized that they were the victim of swatting – which is when someone makes a false anonymous report that leads to police involvement.
In an interview with NBC News, the 37-year-old opened up about their initial thoughts at the time of the incident.
“I’m shook. I’m gooped. I’m gagged that I — I wasn’t scared. In my head, I’m like, ‘My community is waiting for me,'” they said.
“I want people to know I’m not going to stop doing what I love. And I’m not going to stop inspiring people and being who I am.”
The incident came a few days after streamers held a boycott called A Day Off Twitch, which was created to bring awareness to the hate that marginalised communities face on the platform.
Unfortunately, Elix is the seventh member of the Stream Queens to have been swatted since September.
Back in October, the Connecticut based drag streamer Mia E Z’lay reported to police that she was fearful of being swatted after her address and phone number was stolen.
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“I called my local police department and told them what happened and … I’m scared and I don’t know what to do,” she told NBC News. “Obviously, they didn’t listen because the next day it got bad.”
She went on to say that the following day during a drag stream, police arrived at her home and told her to exit her house.
Like Elix, there were numerous officers outside her home with guns drawn and was immediately handcuffed as cops searched her home.
E Z’lay also said that her viewers heard the commotion of the raid due to her broadcast still running.
“When this stuff happened to me, there’s a safety channel we had, and I said, ‘This is what happened to me. Y’all gotta watch yourselves,'” she said.
In an interview with Insider, Elix called on Twitch to have better resources for content creators to protect themselves from swatting and doxxing.
“It’s happening more and more often now, especially within the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. I wish Twitch spoke on it, so the silence is disappointing,” she exclaimed. “I’m going to be as loud as I can and let people know this is still happening and lives are in danger.”
A spokesperson for Twitch also released a statement to NBC News and said that “ hate and harassment are unacceptable.”
They also said that the company is “ always gathering community feedback” to create more safety resources for streamers.
“Our work to improve safety is never-ending, and we will have more updates to share before the end of the year,” they said.
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