DeSantis Signs Legislation to Increase Penalties for Swatting in Florida

The law classifies swatting as a third-degree felony for significant injury and a second-degree felony if it results in death. It also mandates restitution.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 17, 2024. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 21 signed a new bill into law that enhances penalties for swatting, the practice of making false reports to 911 to trigger a large law enforcement response to a target’s location.

DeSantis said during a news conference in Polk County that the state has led the nation in its anti-swatting efforts when he signed a bill in 2021 that established felonies for swatting offenses that led to damage, injury, or death.

While that has been helpful, it hasn’t been sufficient, according to the governor. Swatting incidents continue in his state and across the country. Given advances in technology that allow pranksters to disguise their voices and hide their IP addresses and phone numbers, swatting has become easier and more common.

The new measure, House Bill 279, enhances penalties across the board for offenders. The Florida Legislature passed the bill during its recent session.

“Swatting has no place in the state of Florida,” DeSantis told reporters. “I think when you have swift penalties, strong penalties, and you administer them swiftly, you will deter it from happening in the future.”

The legislation classifies swatting as a third-degree felony for significant injury or permanent harm, and a second-degree felony if it results in death. It also lowers the threshold for felony penalties from four to two swatting incidents.

It also holds offenders accountable for the costs of prosecution and investigation.

Finally, the bill mandates that courts order restitution from convicted swatting offenders to cover the cost incurred by public safety agencies and for any victims who may have been affected.

Just last month, swatting calls were made to multiple schools in Central Florida. DeSantis also noted that conservative personality and podcast host Benny Johnson was recently targeted in a swatting call in Tampa.

Johnson, in a statement on Wednesday, thanked the governor for signing the bill into law.

“I speak on behalf of a dozen other Florida-based independent journalists and creators who have been swatted in thanking [DeSantis] for passing the harshest anti-swatting laws in America,” Johnson wrote in a statement on X. “Thank you. This saves lives.”

Celebrities, including singer Justin Bieber and actor Tom Cruise, have also been victims of swatting.

After President Donald Trump was elected to a second term in office, some of his Cabinet picks were targeted by swatters, including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who was the president’s pick for U.N. ambassador, and now-Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin.

“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them,” then-Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a November 2024 statement.

Law enforcement acted quickly, Leavitt said at the time, and nobody was hurt.

In some past incidents, innocent bystanders have been hurt, DeSantis said during Wednesday’s press conference, adding that swatting strikes fear among victims. At the same time, law enforcement takes all emergency calls seriously and always responds to a situation assuming it’s a real threat, the governor said.

“But even if nobody is hurt, it’s taking resources and time and manpower away from actually doing the job that we want our law enforcement and first responders to do,” said DeSantis.

The new law goes into effect on July 1.

From NTD News