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On the evening of December 29, police in Manchester, Maine received an emergency call. He received reports of a burglary in the house of Shenna Bellows, the Democratic elections official. She and her husband were away but police attended and searched the residence. In vain. It was a hoax. Shenna Bellow, the day before, announced that Donald Trump would not appear on the state ballot because of his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection against the Capitol. A decision which provoked violent reactions from conservatives. Ms. Bellows, in a statement, said she had been the subject of an increasing number of threats and that her address had been published online.
She was the victim of “swatting”, a phenomenon which consists of calling the emergency services to report a crisis situation, hostage taking, shooting… hoping that SWAT, (hence the term “swatting” ) a GIGN-style intervention team arrives at the given address and terrorizes the residents by brutally bursting into their homes.
Shenna Bellows isn't the only one. During the holidays, at least ten elected officials were targeted. Two days earlier, an individual called police in Naples, Florida, to say he had shot his wife, giving the address of Republican Senator Rick Scott. “These criminals wasted police time and resources in a sickening attempt to terrorize my family,” he said on X.
This is not new. For more than ten years, this type of harassment has continued to increase thanks to technological advances that make calls less traceable. Swatting perpetrators use fake numbers, anonymous servers, software to hide their location and some live abroad. They target schools, hospitals, synagogues, journalists and celebrities like Tom Cruise, Justin Bieber... But recently, attacks have increased against politicians. Republicans and Democrats alike. Michelle Wu, the Democratic mayor of Boston, billionaire George Soros, the conservatives' bête noire, Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, a very controversial Republican, have all been treated to a visit from SWAT in recent weeks. On Christmas Day, police were reported to a fake shooting at the home of Marjorie Taylor Greene. This virulent Trumpist representative from Georgia said this was the eighth time she had been the victim of “swatting.”
These incidents sometimes turn out badly. A police officer in 2017 mistakenly killed the occupant of a Kansas home. A Tennessee man died of a heart attack after law enforcement raided his home. And in 2015, a police officer in Oklahoma was shot and injured when the resident of the house whose door he had just broken down shot him in self-defense.
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The FBI created a national database last year to catalog all cases of “swatting.” Some states have also toughened penalties for these types of crimes.
As for Brandon Williams, a Republican representative from New York State, police recognized his address when they received a call on Christmas Day announcing a crisis situation at his home. They contacted him before coming and as a thank you, they were treated to homemade cookies!
