Tag Archives: swatting

CBS News reports: Federal agents have located a person of interest in over 100 swatting calls, which included calls targeting Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure and Security Agency Director Jen Easterly and other senior Biden administration officials, according to law enforcement officials. Officials say the person of interest lives in Serbia; charges have not yet been filed, but …

NBC News reports: A California teenager who is allegedly behind a flurry of swatting incidents across the country targeting schools and the homes of FBI agents has been arrested in connection with a swatting attempt at a Florida mosque last year, according to court documents filed by state prosecutors. Alan Winston Filion, 17, was arrested last month at his home …

Reuters reports: Two days after a man called in a fake emergency at the South Carolina home of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, she was targeted by a second “swatting” attempt on New Year’s Day, this time by someone who said Haley had shot her daughter, according to an incident report seen by Reuters. A Charleston County sheriff’s deputy responded …

Reuters reports: Authorities responded to a fake emergency at the South Carolina home of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley last month after a man claimed to have shot a woman and threatened to harm himself at her home, according to town records obtained by Reuters. The previously unreported “swatting” incident is among a wave of violent threats, bomb scares and …

NBC News reports: Special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the prosecution of former President Donald Trump in two federal cases, was the target of an attempted swatting at his Maryland residence on Christmas Day. According to two law enforcement sources, someone called 911 and said that Smith had shot his wife at the address where Smith lives. Montgomery County …

Newsweek reports: U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over Donald Trump’s election interference case in Washington, D.C., was reportedly the target of a swatting call on Sunday night. Police and fire services responded to a reported shooting at a home owned by Chutkan in the capital on Sunday. Audio from the police response was also shared on social …

The New York Post reports: George Soros’ posh Southampton estate was swatted over the weekend as the lefty-leaning billionaire became the latest high-profile victim of the 911 pranks. Southampton police said they received the 911 call shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday, with the caller telling cops he had just shot his wife at the ritzy South Shore manse and was …

NBC News reports: Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was the target of a “swatting call” on Friday night, state police said in a statement. The incident happened just a day after Bellows, a Democrat, ruled former President Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot next year. State police said they received a call at …

The New York Post reports: Legal scholar Johnathan Turley has become the latest victim of “swatting” as a 911 call was made falsely reporting someone was shot at his Virginia home. “Yes, I was swatted this evening. It is regrettably a manifestation of our age of rage,” the George Washington University law professor said in a statement on Friday. The …

Florida Politics reports: Naples Police responded to a false report of a shooting at U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s home. Naples Police spokesman Lt. Bryan McGinn confirmed police dispatch received a 911 call Wednesday, Dec. 27, at 9:02 p.m. claiming a shooting occurred. Police confirmed the alleged incident occurred at home on the street where Scott lives. “Within 15 minutes, we …

Boston’s NPR affiliate reports: The Boston Police Department has confirmed that the Roslindale home of Mayor Michelle Wu was the target of a swatting incident. The fake emergency call came in to the city’s 311 system around 5:30 p.m. Monday evening. It was ultimately routed to 911 dispatchers. A man told officials that he shot his wife at an address …

The Auburn Citizen reports: U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams was the victim of a “swatting” incident on Christmas Day, Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck told The Citizen. Members of Schenck’s office and the New York State Police responded to a report of a shooting at 2 p.m. at Williams’ home in Sennett, Schenck said. The call was made to the Cayuga …

The New York Times reports: The hoax calls to police departments or suicide hotlines around the country say that a man is considering killing himself and others or that a bomb has been placed in a building. The address given on the phone belongs to a synagogue that is livestreaming its services. In some cases, the callers watch in real …

Yahoo News reports: The Washington, D.C. home of right-wing activist Steve Bannon appears to have been swatted again. Police and rescue workers responded to a shooting call at Bannon’s Thursday morning. “At approximately 10:32am, MPD responded to the 200 block of A Street NE, for the report of a shooting,” D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department told the Daily News. “Preliminarily, this …

The Hill reports: An individual reported a fake crime at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) home early Thursday morning, the second “swatting” incident at her residence in as many days, authorities said. A local 911 call center received a chat at 2:53 a.m. on what appeared to be a suicide chat line, with the individual claiming they came out as …

The Daily Dot reports: After returning to the police station, officers say they received a call directly from the alleged perpetrator. In a computer-generated voice, the caller claimed they had targeted Greene over her stance on transgender youth’s rights. The caller claimed to be connected to Kiwi Farms, a notorious far-right site known for carrying out harassment campaigns. The suspect …

CNBC reports: Five police officers showed up at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s home overnight after an alleged opponent of her stance on transgender rights made a false 911 call, authorities in Georgia said Wednesday. The “swatting” call falsely claimed that a man had been shot multiple times in a bathtub at a residence in Rome, Georgia, the city’s police department …

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, …

Vice News reports: In April 2020, Mark Herring’s heart stopped beating when armed police surrounded his house, responding to a bogus call of an alleged murder. The swatting incident—where people call in fake threats to the police so officers respond to someone’s address, potentially harming them—was all for the purpose of a scammer trying to gain control of Herring’s Twitter …

The New York Times reports: John Cameron Denton, 27, of Montgomery, Texas, whom the Justice Department identified as a former leader of the Atomwaffen Division, a paramilitary neo-Nazi group, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in a swatting conspiracy in which he and others reported false claims involving “pipe bombs, hostage takings or other violent activity” …