Keffals, the Twitch streamer and trans activist who gained worldwide attention by taking on abusive forum Kiwi Farms in 2022, has filed a human rights complaint against the London Police Service (LPS) in Ontario, Canada.
The LPS arrested Keffals (aka Clara Sorrenti) on Aug. 5, 2022, after she was swatted via email. The hoax email sent to police claimed Sorrenti had killed her mother, had a gun, and was planning on shooting cisgender people at London’s City Hall. It was signed with Sorrenti’s deadname.
Sorrenti recalled the incident in an Aug. 9 YouTube upload (embedded below), describing how she’d been woken up in the middle of the night by an officer aiming a gun at her, how she’d been arrested by police referring to her with her deadname, and how her electronic devices had been seized.
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She was later released without charges, but says her experience indicates “systemic issues” within the LPS.
She also says she warned the department that she might be a victim of swatting more than five months prior to the incident.
“LPS hasn’t done nearly enough to start addressing the systemic issues that led to the encounter last year that left me in significant emotional and mental distress,” Sorrenti said, per CBC.
Her claim, filed to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario April 10, asks for Sorrenti to be awarded $75,000 in damages for injury to her dignity, feelings and self-respect, plus $50,000 for loss of income and other damages caused by the incident.
Sorrenti is also asking that the LPS change its record management procedures and policies to ensure it is accommodating trans people, and wants them to wear body cameras while interact with trans civilians.
“There is simply no excuse for the LPS’s records to have Ms. Sorrenti’s old name and gender. She has had multiple interactions with them prior to the events in question to seek protection from the risks she faced due to her important work,” Justin W. Anisman, Sorrenti’s lawyer, said in a statement. “It’s concerning that they appear to have ignored her concerns, failed to update her records or make appropriate notes which could have protected her.”
CBC reports that former LPS chief Steve Williams ordered an internal review and determined that the officers who arrested Sorrenti acted appropriately based on “limited information.” He did acknowledge that Sorrenti’s records weren’t updated to reflect her actual name.
Following Sorrenti’s arrest, the LPS introduced a new system that flags locations of people who have been swatted. It’s not clear if this system also flags people who tell police they are concerned they might be swatted in the future.
Keffals’ swatting was a result of her activism against Kiwi Farms, but swatting against Twitch streamers in general has been on a sharp and concerning rise. Ludwig, QTCinderella, xQc, IShowSpeed, Adin Ross, Nadia Amine, and HeyItsMeSalty have all been swatted in the past several months–and that’s just naming a few. Many of these creators were swatted while livestreaming, and many of them have been swatted more than once.
