Politicians in Various US States Become Victims of Swatting Pranks

Lawmakers in various parts of the United States have recently become targets of a dangerous prank called "swatting." This involves making a hoax call to emergency services, prompting a SWAT team response to the victim's home. The Florida Senator, Rick Scott, had police rush to his house on Wednesday after a false report claimed that a gunman had killed his wife. Similarly, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene experienced a swatting incident on Christmas Day while her family was present. Although most of the swatting calls appeared to target Republican officials, some Democrats were also victims, including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. Greene, a vocal supporter of the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, revealed that this was just one in a series of hoax calls she has faced. Swatting attacks were not limited to politicians, as multiple officials in other states were also targeted. The popularity of swatting, which poses a significant risk to the victims and the responding law enforcement, has been growing. In a separate incident earlier this month, nearly 200 Jewish synagogues and schools were targeted across the US within a single weekend. An FBI memo suggests that these threats were all connected and might be originating from outside the country. This prank has resulted in tragic consequences in the past, such as the death of a Kansas man in 2018 when police mistakenly shot him during a swatting incident. In a subsequent court case, a Los Angeles man received a 20-year prison sentence for making the hoax call that led to the fatal shooting.