Police Swarm Bannon’s DC Home In “Swatting” Hoax

The Washington Post reports:

Heavily armed police on Friday swarmed around the Capitol Hill rowhouse where former Trump White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon lives after receiving a false report that a man with a gun was inside and had shot someone, according to authorities. Police shut down streets near the Supreme Court and the Capitol for about one hour, prompting fears of an active shooter. Police determined that there was no shooting, no weapon, no threat and no victim.

Police initially told The Washington Post that they had encountered a person who claimed to be armed and who appeared to be suffering from a mental health crisis, but they found no gun and no one injured. The spokeswoman said that call appears to have been a “swatting” attempt, a practice in which someone calls in a false report of an emergency or a crisis to draw police to a particular address or person.

Read the full article.

Swatting derives its name from police SWAT teams. A number of prominent online gamers have been swatted during live-streams. Don’t be surprised if the Bannon incident is traced back to a disgruntled fellow cultist.

Heavily armed police swarmed around the Capitol Hill rowhouse where former Trump White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon lives after receiving a false report that a man with a gun was inside and had shot someone, @phscoop reports https://t.co/E2DYAgLUBn

— michaelscherer (@michaelscherer) July 8, 2022

Assistant Chief Carroll provides an update on an incident at 3rd and A St., NE https://t.co/bX8r9xPx5W pic.twitter.com/mLQe81eHS2

— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) July 8, 2022

Looks like somebody SWATTed Steve Bannon. https://t.co/0SB0LtfMqC

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) July 8, 2022