A transgender Twitch star claimed she was forced to leave her home after being “harassed and stalked” by people online – who allegedly sent a threat to local politicians under her name, leading to her being arrested at gunpoint.
Clara Sorrenti, who goes by the name Keffals online, 28, said a SWAT team stormed her home in London, Ontario, on Aug. 5, after someone posing as her sent alarming messages to Canadian officials claiming they were “en masse.” would commit violence. .’
She claimed someone “stole her identity and used it to arm the London police emergency response team to scare her at best and kill her at worst.”
She was taken into custody and held for over 10 hours, but was later released after being acquitted of all wrongdoing – but she was terrified for her safety and decided to leave her home and move to a hotel instead.
However, after sharing a photo to let her followers know she was safe, the social media star said online trolls found out where she was staying from the photo — showing her cat on the bed — and started sending unwanted gifts to her. to send her room.
A transgender Twitch star claimed she was forced to leave her home after being harassed and stalked by people online
Clara Sorrenti, who goes by the name Keffals online, 28, said her hatred posed a threat to local politicians under her name, leading to her being arrested at gunpoint
She was taken into custody and held for over 10 hours, but was released – then was left terrified for her safety and decided to leave her home and move to a hotel instead
However, after sharing a photo of her cat to let her followers know she was safe, she said online trolls found out where she was staying and sent unwanted gifts to her room.
Keffals placed an explosive YouTube video detailing Thursday’s incidents, explaining that she is now “in hiding” and living in “constant fear.”
She explained in the 10-minute video, which was shot in front of a green screen so her “stalkers” couldn’t “match the furniture in the background” and found out where she now lives, that users on an online forum known as Kiwi Farms, found out where she lived and put the address online.
Kiwi Farms is described as a “community dedicated to discussing eccentric people who voluntarily deceive themselves” and a place to “examine abnormal psychology and the minds of internet crazies.”
“Kiwi Farms is an online community of stalkers who torment and harass their victims so intensely,” she said in the YouTube video.
“The users limited my address to one in London, Ontario, and one in Toronto, Ontario.
“Police sent SWAT teams to addresses in both cities because emails were being sent to local politicians in my name threatening to commit mass violence.”
While one of the addresses was her home, the other was the home of an “elderly Italian man” who shares her last name.
“He had nothing to do with this. Innocent people get hurt trying to hurt me,” she continued.
Keffals posted an explosive YouTube video on Thursday detailing the incidents, explaining that she is now “in hiding” and living in “constant fear”.
She explained in the 10-minute video that users on an online forum known as Kiwi Farms (pictured) found out where she lived and put the address online.
She said a SWAT team stormed her home in London, Ontario, on Aug. 5 after someone posing as her sent messages to officials claiming she was committing “mass violence.”
“I’m afraid it will escalate to violence against me in the future.”
In addition to being known for sharing videos of herself streaming video games, Keffals is also a political activist who ran in the 2018 Ontario general election and the 2019 Canadian federal election under the Communist Party of Canada – which she held. lost both.
The Washington Post described her as “one of the most popular openly trans-streamers on Twitch,” where she has over 45,000 subscribers.
“She is part of a new class of stars who have moved away from the platform’s traditional gamestream format to talk news and politics,” the outlet wrote.
After the August 5 swatting incident, Keffals explained on YouTube that she decided to check in at a local hotel.
But after sharing a photo online of her cat cuddling on the hotel bed, she said that “the people who harassed her spent hours redirecting the sheets to other local hotels until they found a match.”
“The next morning, five different pizza companies sent pizzas to my hotel room under my name,” she explains.
‘Of course the pizzas are not the problem, but the threat they pose. They know where I [am staying]and they are willing to act upon it in the real world.”
She said she “checked out immediately” and now she’s staying at an AirBnb, which she rents through a third party, and uses a VPN so no one can trace her.
She now resides in an AirBnb and used a green screen in the video so her “stalkers” couldn’t “match with the furniture in the background” and find out where she lives now
The streamer also said she has hired a lawyer and is currently “looking at possible legal routes she can take to seek justice for herself.”
She asked her viewers to “spread the word” by sharing her video and encouraged people to donate on her GoFundMe page, which helps pay for legal funds.
“I actually had to go into hiding for my own safety,” she explained. “I don’t want to be constantly afraid of being located and the threats escalating against me, endangering my life, as well as the lives of the people I care about.”
In the YouTube video, Keffals revealed that the police are “now investigating what happened as criminal harassment” and “are closely monitoring her threats.”
She also said she has hired a lawyer and is currently “looking at possible legal routes she can take to seek justice for herself.”
She asked her viewers to “spread the word” by sharing her video and encouraged people to donate to her GoFundMe page, which will help pay for legal funds.
“We can only fight back if we make this a national and international discussion,” she continued.
“Seeking justice for myself and others will be a huge, lengthy and costly undertaking,” she said. “I never intend to go backwards, I’m never going to leave. I will continue to fight’
“Seeking justice for myself and others will be a huge, lengthy and costly undertaking.
“I never intend to go backwards, I’m never going to leave. I will continue to fight.
“If they really want to stop me, they’d better manipulate the police into pulling the trigger because I’m not going anywhere.”
She added that seeing the support online has made her feel “significantly less alone during one of the most stressful periods of her entire life.”
She concluded with a message to the creator of the “horrific” Kiwi Farms website, Joshua Moon.
She said, “Joshua, the legacy you leave in this world is one of creating and providing a platform that has tormented countless people for nearly a decade.”
In 2013, it was reported that video game developer Chloe Sagal committed suicide after much harassment from Kiwi Farms members.
Multiple other people have also reportedly taken their lives at the hands of the platform, including a Canadian woman named Julie Terryberry and a Japanese software developer known as Near.