(TheRedWire.com) – On Christmas Day, several political figures reported that their homes were the targets of “swatting incidents,” which led to substantial law enforcement responses based on fabricated emergency calls.
Swatting involves making a hoax call to law enforcement, falsely reporting severe emergencies like crimes, mass shootings, or kidnappings at a specific location. This tactic, aimed at triggering a heavy police response, has increasingly been used to harass celebrities, politicians, and online personalities in recent years.
Victims of swatting are placed in potentially dangerous situations, as law enforcement is often informed of a high-risk threat at the victim’s residence. In June, the FBI initiated a national database to monitor these incidents, following an advocacy effort by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who described such attacks as “dangerous, disturbing and downright terrifying.”
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia disclosed that her residence was subjected to a swatting attempt on Christmas Day. This incident is the latest in a series of swatting attempts targeting Greene. She shared on social media, previously known as Twitter, that someone falsely reported a crime at her house, marking approximately the eighth such occurrence.
According to a police spokesperson, calls to a crisis hotline cited Greene’s address in Rome, Georgia, prompting a local police response. The police, in coordination with Greene’s security team, quickly ascertained that there was no actual emergency at her residence.
Previous swatting incidents at Greene’s home include a false report of a shooting in August 2022 and another claim suggesting harm to her family the following day.
Similarly, Representative Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) reported that his home was swatted on Christmas Day. The Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office contacted Williams to verify the situation before proceeding to his residence. Williams expressed gratitude to the responding deputies and troopers on social media, mentioning that they exited with homestyle cookies and spiced nuts.
The connection between the incidents at Greene’s and Williams’s residences is unclear. However, the Rome, Georgia, police received multiple emergency reports at Greene’s address and another address in Rome, New York, which falls within Williams’s district.
In Boston, authorities received a false report of a shooting at an address matching Mayor Michelle Wu’s home in the Roslindale neighborhood. The Boston Police Department, as reported by the Boston Herald, confirmed that this report was a hoax.
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