Rep. Taylor Greene is target of ‘swatting’ at Georgia home
(NewsNation) — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was a target of “swatting” early Wednesday morning at her home in Rome, Georgia, she announced on social media and police confirmed.
The Georgia Republican said in a tweet: “Last night, I was swatted just after 1 am. I can’t express enough gratitude to my local law enforcement here in Rome, Floyd County. More details to come.”
Swatting refers to an illegal activity in which someone prank calls 911 with a fake emergency with the goal of getting law enforcement to raid someone’s home.
A Rome Police Department spokesperson told NewsNation they received two 911 calls from what sounded like a computer-altered voice.
The first call stated a person was shot in Greene’s house, and the person offered dissenting remarks about the congresswoman’s stance on transgender issues in the second call. The incident is still under investigation.
Members of Congress have been targets of swatting in the past, and the penalties for those accused were steep.
In 2016, U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., was “swatted” at her home shortly after the same happened at the home of David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting and an advocate for gun control.
Police arrested 25-year-old Tyler Barriss in California for the crimes the next day. He was accused of several other swatting incidents, including one in Kansas where officers fatally shot the target of the hoax 911 call.
He was sentenced to 20 years in 2019.
A New York man received a two-year federal prison sentence for a swatting incident in 2013, involving U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. Mir Islam pleaded guilty to calling 911 and untruthfully claiming the congressman had shot and killed his wife.