The Rome Police Department said Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was a victim of a swatting attack early Wednesday morning in Floyd County.
Police said officers responded her home at around 1 a.m. after someone reported someone being shot multiple times, but determined that the call was a prank when they arrived. It's not clear how many officers responded.
Swatting is the act of making a hoax call to 911 to try and draw responses from law enforcement. Suspects can use technology to make it appear that the emergency call is coming from the victim's phone and the situations it can be deadly.
Police said a second caller using a digitally-altered voice said they were upset about Greene's views on transgender youth rights. About a month after taking office, Greene put an anti-transgender rights placard outside her Washington D.C. office across from a transgender flag raised by her neighbor, Illinois Rep. Marie Newman. The sign said, "There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE" and "Trust The Science."
In a tweet sent shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday, the Georgia lawmaker says that she was swatted just after 1 a.m. and promised "more details to come."
"I can’t express enough gratitude to my local law enforcement here in Rome, Floyd County," Greene tweeted.
JUDGE UPHOLDS MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE ELECTION ELILGIBILITY
Greene is not the only Republican lawmaker in Georgia to say they've been a victim of swatting. In July, former gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor said she and her family were victims of a swatting call.
Calling the incident "traumatizing," Taylor said someone had called police and falsely claimed that someone had been murdered at her home.
"I don't care what political party you are - this is evil. This is not OK. And I will find out who swatted my house. And I will do everything in my power to bring them to justice," she said.
The Rome Police Department Criminal Investigation Division and Capital Police are investigating.
Wurm42 on August 24th, 2022 at 23:57 UTC »
It's time for the FCC to start enforcing the STIR/SHAKEN standard for caller ID authentication, even for older non-IP networks like the one in MTG's hometown.
Blocking caller ID spoofing at the network level will stop swatting, and make it much easier to trace spam robocalls.
Ajit Pai did his best to delay mandatory call authentication when he was head of the FCC, but the Biden team has been there for a year and a half, it's time to push this.
Stop swatting and stop robocall abuse.
wildwildwaste on August 24th, 2022 at 18:47 UTC »
Guess what, swatting has been, and is still, a major problem.
Sending a group of armed and armoured individuals into an unknown situation on the basis of only a phone call is bound to lead to injuries or death of citizens and public servants alike.
yusill on August 24th, 2022 at 18:40 UTC »
911 keeps the calls. Let's hear them.