Representative Marjorie Taylor Green’s Rome, Georgia, home was the target of a “swatting” in the wee hours of the morning on August 24. Police responded to the Republican’s home after a 911 call falsely reported a shooting at her residence, a tactic commonly known as a “swatting.”
Swatting is a vicious prank in which perpetrators phone emergency services in order to bring about a massive show of force with armed officers at an address. Police reported to Greene’s home due to a false 911 report of “a subject being shot multiple times,” according to a Rome Police Department statement posted on their Facebook page.
A subsequent 911 call said that there were children in the home.
“When officers responded they discovered this was the home of Marjorie Taylor Greene,” the statement explained. “She assured the officers there was no issue and the call was determined to be a false call commonly known as ‘swatting.’”
Greene announced the incident in a tweet:
Later, 911 received another call from a computer-generated voice, claiming responsibility for the attack. The suspect, possibly a transgender activist, “explained that they were upset about Ms. Greene’s stance on ‘trans gender youth’s rights’ and stated that they were trying to ‘SWAT’ her,” Rome police reported.
As the investigation is ongoing, the department declined to give out any more details, but added: “The Rome Police Department Criminal Investigation Division is working in conjunction with the United States Capital [sic] Police on this investigation.”
Greene talked about the incident on The Charlie Kirk Show this morning:
I was sound asleep. Of course, never expected anyone to be coming to my house at that time in the morning. Heard some knocks on the door, heard my doorbell, saw some lights outside, heard people outside my windows in my yard, and I jumped out of bed, threw my clothes on and I picked up my gun. That was my instinct because I’m a gun owner, I’m a Second Amendment supporter, and I believe in defending myself.
The prank might have turned out much worse for Greene and her family.
“For some reason I had this weird gut instinct to not take my gun with me to the front door, which is very out of norm for me,” Greene said.
According to Greene, the officers had guns drawn and ready for combat when she finally answered the door.
“It was the body posture of the police that was really concerning me,” Greene said.
Greene said that the officers were very upset when they realized what was happening.
“They were very upset…. I was very upset,” Greene said. “Not only did [the swatters] put my life and my family’s life in danger, they also put the police officers’ lives in danger.”
Greene held no ill will toward law enforcement because of the incident, tweeting: “I can’t express enough gratitude to my local law enforcement here in Rome, Floyd County.”
Many leapt to Greene’s defense in the wake of the incident.
“Whoever did this must be held accountable. These actions risk innocent lives,” tweeted retired Air Force Colonel Rob Maness.
“This is insane and unacceptable,” tweeted John Cardillo. “The people behind this need to be prosecuted and serve jail time.”
Swatting is a vicious criminal harassment tactic, and has become a way to annoy prominent members of society. Celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Charlie Sheen, Justin Bieber, and Miley Cyrus have all experienced swatting incidents.
A deadly incident occurred in Wichita, Kansas, in 2017 when police responded to a false report of a homicide. An officer shot and killed 28-year-old Andrew Finch, thinking that Finch was going for a gun that turned out to be nonexistent. Finch was, reportedly, targeted over a dispute regarding the online game Call of Duty.
Political commentator Tim Pool, a centrist who hosts a podcast Monday through Friday and has earned the wrath of many on the political Left, has been “swatted” at least eight times in the past year.
Anyone believing that this vile tactic is nothing more than a prank, akin to a prank phone call of days gone by, is delusional. Who knows what might have happened had Greene opened her door with her gun drawn?
Perhaps swatting should be a crime synonymous with attempted murder, since that appears to be the point.
