The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigations arrested a Fortnite player who was making threats to kill people on Sept. 23.
Fortnite maker Epic Games reported Alabama man and Fortnite player Edward Frith to the FBI on Sept. 20 for making disturbing statements in the Fortniteclient, according to an affidavit obtained by Aftermath. Some statements were made over voice chat, and recording files were handed over to the FBI, according to an affidavit filed Sept. 21. In those files, Frith allegedly said he was “letting all [his] rage out because I want to literally murder somebody” and that he thinks about murdering people “every day.”
Frith was seemingly an avid Fortnite player, having accessed his account, WagesOfNinja, more than 1,700 times, most recently on Sept. 21, the day the complaint was filed, according to the document.
He also, per the affidavit, said: “Let’s see if the FBI is going to to show up at my door because I’ll shoot them motherfuckers too.” Other transcribed statements include “I’m going to be a murderer one day” and “One day I’m going to turn into that person just like the people you see on the fucking videos on YouTube where they fucking run up to the police officer and they have no reason at all and then they make the police kill them. I’m gonna be that guy.”
Frith was indicted for violating Interstate Threatening Communications on Sept. 23. On Tuesday, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama remanded Frith to a corrections facility as he waits for trial, according to an order of detention document. Frith entered a plea of not guilty on Sept. 24. A trial is expected in December.
Presumably, Epic Games spotted Frith’s threats using the “voice reporting system” it announced in 2023.
“The only way Epic ever receives a copy of the audio clip is if voice reporting is on and a participant affirmatively reports the voice chat using the in-game voice reporting feature,” it said in the announcement. Voice reporting captures “the last five minutes of voice chat audio,” which means a person reporting someone else must do so within five minutes, according to its FAQ. Similar to voice reporting, Fortnite players can also report text chat. This saves messages for 30 days. Epic Games also moderates text chat using its own systems to detect “categories of potentially high-harm interactions, including self-harm, child endangerment, and threats of real-world violence, and submit a report to Epic for review. “
Anything that violates those rules will be reported to law enforcement, Epic Games said, and accounts banned. Aftermath has reached out to Epic Games for more information.
