Police Investigating Fake Shooting Report That Prompted Armed Response to Rep. Greene’s Home

Police Investigating Fake Shooting Report That Prompted Armed Response to Rep. Greene’s Home
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) addresses supporters during a primary election watch party in Rome, Ga., on May 24, 2022. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
Zachary Stieber
Updated:
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Local and federal officials are investigating after a fake shooting report triggered an armed response to the home Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

A phone call made at approximately 1:03 a.m. on Aug. 24 claimed a person was shot multiple times at a home in Rome, Georgia, the Rome Police Department said. But when officers responded, they discovered the address was the home of Greene.

“She assured the officers there was no issue and the call was determined to be a false call commonly known as ’swatting,'” the department said.

Swatting refers to when a person falsely reports a shooting or other serious event at a location with the intent to trigger a response from a SWAT team, or a team of heavily armed law enforcement officers.

A 911 dispatcher also received a second call from a person using a computer-generated voice to say he or she was “upset about Mrs. Greene’s political view on transgender youth rights,” the Rome Police Department said.

Greene has spoken out about sex change surgeries for minors, and recently introduced a bill that would make illegal such procedures and prescriptions for drugs such as puberty blockers.

“When it comes to ‘gender-affirming care,’ which is really child abuse, this is actually an assault and it’s child abuse,” Greene said during a recent appearance on Fox News, using a euphemism used by supporters of transgender procedures.

‘Sound Asleep’

Greene recounted being “sound asleep” and being woken up by her doorbell ringing and people outside her home.

Speaking on Real America’s Voice, she said she left her gun behind due to a “gut instinct” and answered the door.

Officers asked her if everything was okay and quickly realized what had happened, she said.

Greene said the first call to 911 described a person shooting her partner five times in the chest in a bathtub, and a second call stated that children were in the home.

“With those phone calls, they were setting up a very serious, very dangerous scenario,” Greene said, adding later: “Not only did they put my life and my family’s life in danger, they also put the police officers’ lives in danger. And so whoever this person is, they deserve to be locked up.”

Investigation

The Rome Police Department declined to say whether a suspect or suspects have been identified.

Officials said they’re working with the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) on the investigation, which was described as active.

“For safety reasons, the USCP does not discuss potential security measures for Members or any potential investigations,” a USCP spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.

Swatting can lead to jail time. In the past, people who have made the fake calls have received years or even decades in jail.

Zachary Stieber
Zachary Stieber
Senior Reporter
Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at [email protected]
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