YouTube commenter threatens to kill employees, drives to HQ with a gun, police say
A 35-year-old Utah man was arrested after authorities said he made online threats against YouTube employees and drove to the company’s San Bruno, Calif., headquarters with a gun.
Orem police on Saturday arrested David Swanson on suspicion of making terroristic threats. He was released from Utah County Jail the following day after posting $100,000 bail.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Swanson first made threats in September in response to a video about YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI. In the comments section of the video, he writes, “The only thing that comes after the death of YouTube is a funeral for all the executives that were rightfully murdered.â€
Swanson commented again in December on a video called “What happens if you tell Google to kill itself?†Authorities say he made a direct threat against YouTube employees last month in a third video, writing: “Get woke go broke, and when I visit your campus in two weeks I’ll be able to shoot any employees exiting from the convenience of my car, because the First Amendment allows me a right to do so.â€
Swanson admitted to police that he drove to YouTube’s Northern California headquarters with a firearm.
In April 2018, a woman wounded three YouTube employees before killing herself. The woman’s father said he had warned police she might be headed to YouTube because she “hated†the Google-owned company.
Swanson told police he was aware of last year’s shooting.
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