Spate of swatting incidents ensnares high-profile targets: Politicians, prosecutors and judges
Political figures and members of the judiciary have been ensnared in swatting incidents in recent weeks — what law enforcement experts say is a product of a hostile political climate.
At 2 p.m. on Christmas Day, Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., received an urgent phone call from his local sheriff’s office in upstate New York: There was a shooting at his home, and deputies were en route.
Except, it wasn’t true. Williams was home with his family and everyone was safe.
“Of course I told them that everything was cool there,” he said, “and I greeted them outside just so that they would feel at ease and it wouldn’t escalate.”
Even before law enforcement arrived, Williams, who joined Congress in January 2023, had realized he was the victim of attempted “swatting,” in which a hoax call is made to police claiming a life-threatening situation is taking place. The deceptive act is meant to draw an armed SWAT team to a certain location, and it has, at times, turned deadly.
Like Williams, other political figures and members of the judiciary have been ensnared in swatting incidents in recent weeks — what law enforcement experts say is a product of a hostile political climate during an intense presidential election season. Among those named in reports are Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who said she was also swatted this past Christmas; Boston Mayor Michelle Wu; Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.; Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who recently ruled former President Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot; special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the prosecution of Trump in two federal cases; and Tanya Chutkan, the federal judge involved in Trump’s election interference case.
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