On Wednesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said she was the victim of “swatting,” the act of alerting law enforcement to a fake emergency in order to harass an innocent person. Local police confirmed the incident that has previously gotten people killed.
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“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,” Green tweeted. “More details to come.”
Greene’s office confirmed the “political attack” against the congresswoman in a statement to DailyMail.com.
“Right now, Congresswoman Greene’s safety is our number one concern. Late last night, she was a victim of a political attack on her family and home,” Greene’s office said. “Whoever committed this violent crime will face the full extent of the law.”
Rome Police Department also confirmed the swatting incident in a statement posted on Facebook.
“[Authorities] responded to a 911 call reference to a subject being shot multiple times at an address within the city limits,” the statement read. “When officers responded they discovered this was the home of Marjorie Taylor Greene. She assured the officers there was no issue and the call was determined to be a false call commonly known as ‘swatting.’”
“Rome/Floyd 911 received a second call from the suspect who was using a computer generated voice stating that he/she was upset about Mrs. Greene’s political view on transgender youth rights,” the statement continued. “The Rome Police Department Criminal Investigation Division is working in conjunction with the United States Capitol Police on this investigation. This is an active investigation and no further information can be released at this time.”
Swatting has been a nationwide issue for years. In 2018, the Seattle Police Department released a PSA on swatting, describing it as “a deliberate and malicious act that creates an environment of fear and unnecessary risk, and in some cases, has led to loss of life.”
“Anyone can be the target of swatting, but victims are typically associated with the tech industry, video game industry, and/or the online broadcasting community. We have also seen cases where criminals are attempting to silence people with elevated online profiles, elevating these particular swatting incidents to hate crimes,” the SPD’s website states.
It isn’t the first time this year that Greene has made headlines.
Earlier this year, Twitter permanently banned Rep. Greene’s personal account. The tech giant said the ban was due to posts Greene made that included so-called misinformation about COVID-19.
“We permanently suspended Marjorie Taylor Greene for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy,” Twitter said in a statement, according to CNN. “We’ve been clear that, per our strike system for this policy, we will permanently suspend accounts for repeated violations of the policy.”
