A growing trend of conservative politicians and thought leaders being targeted by 911 calls reporting fake emergencies, often causing armed officers or tactical teams to arrive at their homes, could lead to serious injury or even death, according to a recent victim.
Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) told The Epoch Times that he was sitting down with his family on Christmas Day when he received a call from the local sheriff’s office notifying him that there had been a shooting inside his home and that police were en route. He immediately took the call as a threat against his family.
“Someone was hoping that police might kill me or my family, that’s exactly what happens in these swatting cases,” Mr. Williams said. “These well-intentioned police come in heavy, thinking there is an urgent crisis and for someone not expecting that, it creates a lot of confusion.”
He said it was stressful but that he hoped his actions on that day would help set an example for his children of how to deal with law enforcement when confronted with a tense situation.
“I met the police outside with my hands open and then brought them inside the house where my wife and two children were, also with their hands open,” Mr. Williams said. “My goal was to make it easy for them.
“After they walked through the house and were satisfied it was a false alarm, we sent them home with some Ziploc bags full of Christmas cookies.”
Police are working to identify the callers, but no arrests have been made.
However, Mr. Williams is only the latest Republican to find himself the victim of “swatting,” as it has become known: the act of calling law enforcement and claiming that there’s an emergency situation with the goal of causing tactical teams with weapons drawn to barge into the target’s home.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she was the target of a swatting attempt at her Georgia residence on Christmas morning.
“My local police are the GREATEST and shouldn’t have to deal with this.”
Several calls were made to a crisis hotline from multiple locations from a man who claimed to have shot and killed his girlfriend at Ms. Greene’s address. The caller claimed that he was going to kill himself next, according to a Rome Police Department spokesperson.
Law enforcement officers were able to quickly recognize the address and verify that the call was a hoax after speaking with the congresswoman’s security detail and before dispatching officers or tactical teams to the house. However, in past incidents, Ms. Greene wasn’t as fortunate. Police have responded to prior calls from people claiming that shots had been fired outside of her residence. Other phony emergency calls included claims that dead bodies were found in various areas of the congresswoman’s home.
There are no statewide or national totals available of the number of false “swatting” calls made to politicians or public figures. However, increasingly, high-profile conservatives have been revealing that they and their families have been victims.
Jack Posobiec, a popular conservative influencer, said his parents were “swatted” on Dec. 23, with someone falsely telling authorities that the commentator had shot his parents and was also threatening to shoot his own family.
In another post, he wrote, “It is clear federal law is currently inadequate on swatting incidents whether to schools, public figures, or Members of Congress. Such law must be updated. In addition, Congress must address the total failure of federal law enforcement agencies to deal with these violent threats.”
Mr. Williams said although he can’t guess the specific intentions of the perpetrators of these incidents, he does believe it to be a form of political intimidation.
“The reason I believe this happened to me is that I’m in one of the five or 10 most competitive districts in the nation and for the Democrats to win back the majority they need to win seats like mine. There are also a lot of organized groups in support of Hamas that don’t like voices like mine,” he said, referring to the Palestinian terrorist group.
“It’s hard to know what is in the mind of these crazy people.”
However, until those who perpetuate these kinds of acts are brought to justice, the very real risk of tragedy will persist, according to Mr. Williams.
“The people need to know what is going on and that this isn’t some kind of prank. It puts the police in a very dangerous situation,” he said. “It puts everyone in a bad situation.
“If this had happened at 3 a.m. in the morning, it could have been a very different outcome.”
