House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) is the latest prominent conservative or right-leaning figure to be the target of a “swatting” attack. This is the practice of reporting a serious crime, such as a shooting, at the intended target’s home. Law enforcement then sends a significant police presence to the scene — usually a SWAT team, hence the name.
The purpose is to terrorize and embarrass the victim.
No one was injured during the incident at Rep. Emmer’s home. He said on X: “Sadly, this illegal and dangerous scheme is being used nationwide to target elected officials.”
House Majority Whip Swatted Over the Weekend https://t.co/WDYJLETNOb
— Team CRUSH ✝️ 🇺🇸 (@NorCalCrush) January 29, 2024
This practice has been predominantly used to target conservative politicians and public figures. It occurred at the South Carolina home of presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Dec 30, in an incident in which guns were pointed at her parents.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has been swatted 8 times, including on Christmas Day. Other prominent GOP elected officials who have been swatting targets include Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY), and Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R).
While most attacks have been against conservatives or Republicans, Democrats and left-leaning politicians have been victimized as well. Democrat Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was swatted on Christmas Day. She infamously held a ‘no whites’ holiday party last December.
This practice is not only used against politicians, but against other public figures who may have made political enemies. It happened to John Paul Mac Isaac, the computer technician who exposed the infamous Hunter Biden laptop.
Many prominent conservative and right-leaning YouTube influencers have been the target of swatting attacks during their live stream events. This has happened at least nine times to Tim Pool, who runs the popular Timcast channel. It has happened so many times to Jeremy Hambly from The Quartering channel that he has taken to posting a person in his driveway during live streams to meet officers before they come to the door.
Many of the pre-internet generation recall the prank of sending unsolicited pizzas or taxi cabs to the homes of targets. This disruptive but non-deadly practice has evolved into its serious and potentially lethal successor in swatting. Sen. Scott and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) introduced anti-swatting legislation in the U.S. Senate In January. It would have penalties of up to 20 years in prison for perpetrators of swatting hoaxes if anyone were harmed in the incident.
