Tag: swatting

Questions Emerge About Pete Buttigieg’s Story of Being Swatted and Separated From His Children by Child Protective Services

Pete Buttigieg’s harrowing swatting story from last week is now coming under scrutiny, suggesting he may not be telling the entire truth.

As TGP’s Jordan Conradson reported, Buttigieg claims he was swatted this week by Child Protective Service agents and separated from his four-year-old twins.

Buttigieg ran to Substack to write a column about the incident.

Describing himself as “bewildered and troubled,” Buttigieg said that “the CPS worker told me something that made my stomach turn: I was not to be alone around the children, at least until the interview took place the next day.”

After a “sleepless night,” he says, the officers told him that an anonymous tipster told police that he had spoken to a woman. She said that Buttigieg had “committed unspeakable violent crimes, and the caller believed my children were still at risk.”

“After the officer spoke, the CPS worker likewise indicated she had not found anything to substantiate the allegation, though her process would take a bit longer to be formally completed. I no longer needed to avoid being around my children unsupervised. Chasten was invited to come back downstairs and hear the same information that had just been shared with me. Then, per standard procedure, she verified that there was adequate food in our kitchen and asked to take a look at the kids’ bedroom,” Buttigieg wrote.

But questions are emerging that suggest Buttigieg might be embellishing at least part of his story, particularly the part about CPS separating him from his children.

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Pete Buttigieg Says He Was Swatted and Separated From Children by Child Protective Services After Being Accused of “Unspeakable Violent Crimes”

Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg claims he was swatted this week by Child Protective Service agents and separated from his four-year-old twins. 

Buttigieg ran to Substack to write a column about the incident.

“Someone decided to hurt our family this week. I’m furious, and I want to share what happened,” he began the posting.

Buttigieg wrote:

You’ve probably heard of “swatting.” It’s a cruel and dangerous kind of hoax that has started happening more frequently in recent years. Someone anonymously calls 911 with a false report of imminent danger, such as a hostage situation, at the home of a public figure. Law enforcement swarms the house, guns drawn, terrifying the unsuspecting homeowner and family and sometimes even leading to deaths or injuries in the confusion. It’s happened to dozens of lawmakers, judges, celebrities, and others. (When I was in the Cabinet, someone attempted to do this to our home, but fortunately the hoax was quickly detected.) It’s become enough of a problem that the FBI now has a dedicated database to track such incidents.

Now imagine the same concept, but with Child Protective Services instead of a SWAT team. Hadn’t thought of that? Me neither, until a few days ago when a police officer and a CPS worker showed up at our home and politely asked to speak with me.

I showed them in, invited them on the deck so that we could hear each other over the barking dog, and asked what was going on. They explained that there had been an allegation against me, that it concerned our four-year-old twins, and that a forensic interview had been arranged for the children the following day. I could not be present at the children’s interview, nor could any family member sit in. Afterwards, they would come back and interview me. And only then would they tell me anything about the nature of the allegation.

Describing himself as “bewildered and troubled,” Buttigieg went on to reveal that “the CPS worker told me something that made my stomach turn: I was not to be alone around the children, at least until the interview took place the next day.”

“The twenty-four hours until they returned are among the darkest hours of my life. I tried to get my head around the idea that I had been accused of something so serious that I couldn’t be alone around my own children, and had consented to have them interviewed by strangers, without my knowing where the accusation had come from or even what it contained,” he wrote.

After a “sleepless night,” he says, the officers told him that an anonymous tipster told police that he had spoken to a woman, and she said that Buttigieg had “committed unspeakable violent crimes, and the caller believed my children were still at risk.”

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SCOTUS Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Va. home targeted in ‘swatting’ hoax

The Fairfax County, Virginia, home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is the latest target of a malicious “swatting” attempt, prompting a rapid law enforcement coordination that quickly exposed the emergency call as a hoax.

At approximately 9:02 pm on Wednesday evening, police received a call to their non-emergency line reporting active gunfire outside of the justice’s suburban residence.

Officers contacted security at the residence and quickly determined the report was a false call intended to swat the home. Swatting is the illegal act of making a false report of a violent or high-risk incident in order to trigger a heavily armed police response to an unsuspecting person’s address.

“Officers immediately coordinated with Supreme Court Police personnel assigned to the residence and quickly determined that the report was fictitious. No additional police resources were utilized,” the police department said. 

Barrett’s home has also previously been a focal point of chaotic demonstrations, drawing persistent crowds of abortion-rights activists following the High Court’s landmark 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) weighed in on the reports, characterizing the hoax as an attempt to get an innocent person killed, in this case, a sitting Supreme Court justice. He suggested the proper response will be putting the offender in prison for “many, many years.”

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NYC polling locations swatted: report

New York City polling locations for the mayoral race in the Big Apple were reportedly hit with swattings on Election Day, with hours to go for in-person voting. This comes after there were bomb threats sent to polling locations in New Jersey earlier in the morning as well. 

According to a report from the New York Post, the FBI and other authorities are investigating swatting incidents, which include a polling site in Harlem, New York. Authorities are probing the emails, which were sent to election workers. 

An NYPD source told the New York Daily News, “We believe it’s an elaborate swatting attempt. The emails make terroristic threats.” 

Polling sites have not been shut down in response to the swatting emails, but the emails were reportedly sent between 6 am and 9:30 am to the Board of Elections, and workers opened up the email in Harlem Greenwich, Village, and Midtown East.  

The threat in the email was deemed “not credible” by the NYPD, per the outlet. The emails were similar to the emails that were sent to muliple school locations where polls were set to take place in New Jersey. At least seven polling locations were hit with bomb threats in New Jersey, sparking some closures, however, the New Jersey attorney general said that each location was secured, and voting will proceed. 

The emails did not reference the candidates in the election, the outlet said, but socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani made comments in reference to the bomb threats in New Jersey after they became publicized, where he also blamed President Donald Trump. 

He said that the bomb threats were “part of the general approach the Trump administration has taken to trying to intimidate voters with baseless allegations of voter fraud as a means of trying to repress the voice of Americans across this country.”

There have not been disruptions at the polling locations in New York unlike the initial disruptions in New Jersey that resolved with hours. The seven counties in New Jersey that saw bomb threats included Bergen County, Essex County, Mercer County, Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Ocean County, and Passaic County.

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Secret Service Official Targeted in Swatting Call

A high-ranking U.S. Secret Service official was targeted by an anonymous swatting call on July 4.

The caller connected with the 911 system in the undisclosed community where the official lives, according to Axios, and claimed someone was running around the official’s home with a gun.

The incident was reportedly revealed on Thursday by Michael Centrella, Secret Service field operations assistant director, at a cybersecurity event in San Francisco.

Centrella told the Deepfake Resilience symposium participants that the Secret Service official is known to the local department where he lives. When the swatting caller described the man’s daughter as the one running around with a gun, local police knew immediately they had a fake call on their hands. He does not have a daughter.

But the issue remained that the caller knew the official’s name and correct home address.

These types of calls are typically intended to create chaos and confusion by prompting a large and well-armed response by police. SWAT (special weapons and tactics) teams are often deployed to respond to calls of someone with a gun, hence the descriptive name, “swatting.”

Swatting calls have been increasing, but so has law enforcement’s response. FBI Director Kash Patel posted about the increase in cases in March.

“The FBI is aware of this dangerous trend, and my team and I are already taking action to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”

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Romanian Citizen Pleads Guilty to ‘Swatting’ Numerous Members of Congress, Churches, and a Former U.S. President

Thomasz Szabo, 26, of Romania, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to being the leader of a years-long conspiracy that targeted victims across the United States with “swatting” and bomb threats. Szabo and his co-conspirators falsely reported ongoing violent emergencies at government buildings, houses of worship, and private residences, including the homes of senior government officials.

           The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Matt McCool of the Washington Field Office, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge William Mancino of the U.S. Secret Service’s Criminal Investigative Division, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen of the Washington Field Office, FBI Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston, Sr., of the Minneapolis Field Office, and the U.S. Capitol Police.

           Szabo, aka “Plank,” “Jonah,” and “Cypher,” pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson to one count of conspiracy and one count of threats and false information regarding explosives. Sentencing is scheduled for October 23.

           “This defendant’s targeted and ruthless behavior put countless people in danger, including law enforcement, public officials, and ordinary citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “Swatting attacks, that is, falsely reporting an ongoing threat of violence at a victims’ home address for the purpose of provoking a police response there, drain precious resources and can result in major injury or even death. Anyone who hijacks police resources for senseless crimes like these will have to answer for their actions.”  

           “This defendant led a dangerous swatting criminal conspiracy, deliberately threatening dozens of government officials with violent hoaxes and targeting our nation’s security infrastructure from behind a screen overseas,” said Attorney General Bondi. “This case reflects our continued focus on protecting the American people and working with international partners to stop these threats at their source.”

           “This plea agreement is a testament to the extraordinary investigative work, tenacity, and global reach of the U.S. Secret Service and our partners,” said Special Agent in Charge McCool. “This perpetrator hid behind a computer screen on the other side of the world believing he could commit these crimes with impunity. It was a gross miscalculation to underestimate our determination in pursuing and bringing to justice those who would commit these crimes, wherever they may be.”

           “This individual’s actions put innocent people, including government officials, at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Mancino of the U.S. Secret Service’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The U.S. Secret Service and our domestic and international partners worked tirelessly to ensure that this individual was identified and brought to justice.”

           “Swatting is not just a prank, it is a serious violation of the law,” said Assistant Director in Charge Jensen of the Washington Field Office. “Today’s guilty plea makes clear those engaged in these actions will face justice.”

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Romanian National Going by Three Aliases Pleads Guilty to Swatting a Former U.S. President and Over 75 Others – Same Person Who Swatted Catturd Three Times

An Eastern European national using three aliases has admitted his guilt in a swatting ring that doxxed several public officials, including a former U.S. president, the DOJ announced on Monday.

As The New York Post reported, 26-year-old Thomasz Szabo was a key figure in a years-long conspiracy. Szabo and a co-conspirator, 21-year-old Serbian national Nemanja Radovanovic, targeted about 100 people in total, including Congressional members, governors, executive branch officials, and state officials.

According to the Justice Department, Szabo placed fake 911 calls, boasted that emergencies were taking place at the homes of top government officials, and threatened to blow up government buildings and houses of worship. Szabo used the aliases “Plank,” “Jonah,” and “Cypher” to cover his tracks.

Notably, he and Radovanovic did not specifically target individuals based on their political party affiliation. For those wondering about the president targeted by Szabo, he was not named in the indictment.

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DeSantis Signs Bill Increasing Penalties for ‘Swatting’ into Florida Law

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Wednesday that will increase penalties on people who make false 911 calls, commonly referred to as “swatting.”

The governor signed the bill, HB 279, at a high school in Winter Haven. Rep. Bill Partington (R-Ormond Beach) sponsored the legislation in the House, while Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R-Spring Hill) led the Senate bill.

“If you swat, you are going to get hit with serious criminal offenses,” DeSantis said at a press conference.

Swatting calls are particularly dangerous, as police responding to a supposedly emergency incident are not aware that the call is bogus. Often targeted at a specific residence, the swatter will sometimes say a person is dangerous or someone is in danger, and a gun is present.

The false report can sometimes lead to someone being killed. It can also strain police manpower and resources away from serious emergency calls.

Under the bill, a person who makes a swatting call that leads to death will be charged with a second-degree felony. A person who makes a false report that leads to serious injury will be charged with a third-degree felony.

The bill also increases penalties for repeat offenders. Moreover, a swatter will be mandated by the court to pay restitution to public safety officials and victims for any damages that occur from the false report.

DeSantis signed a bill establishing swatting penalties in 2021.

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Two men accused of ‘swatting’ by making hoax calls to US and Canadian police – as they appear in court

Two 18-year-olds appeared in court today accused of swatting – by allegedly making hoax calls to American and Canadian police.

Dylan Ash, from Warrington, Cheshire, and Kieron Ellison, from St Helens, Merseyside, are both charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice in Canada and the USA between October 2022 and June 2023.

They appeared in person for a ten-minute hearing at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court today.

A third person, Liam White, 22, from Western-super-Mare in Somerset, appeared via video link.

Swatting involves making a hoax call to the emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.

The trio were charged after a joint investigation by Merseyside Police and US law enforcement, including the FBI.

According to police it relates to an internet-based group which allegedly ‘planned, advertised and carried out calls to emergency services and internet celebrities reporting fabricated serious, life-threatening incidents, “active shooter threats” to prompt an emergency response.’

Ash – dressed in a white shirt, tie, black trousers and trainers – and Ellison, wearing a grey T-shirt, blue tracksuit bottoms and trainers, were supported by family members.

White wore sunglasses on his head during the brief hearing.

The trio only spoke to confirm their names, addresses and ages and did not enter pleas.

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Political Violence on the Rise Across America as the Left SWATs Reporters in Conservative Media

Trump’s attorney general is not playing around with whoever is behind the politically motivated attacks on Tesla dealerships and other properties connected to President Trump’s DOGE director Elon Musk.

AG Pam Bondi released a statement last night in which she used the “T” word, terrorism, to describe the attacks.

“The swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing short of domestic terrorism. The Department of Justice has already charged several perpetrators with that in mind, including in cases that involve charges with five-year mandatory minimum sentences. We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes.”

But Bondi is coming under fire for not responding quite as aggressively to another series of incidents that have gone down lately in which the victims are not as well-known or well-connected as Elon Musk.

Members of America’s conservative media are getting “swatted” at an alarming rate in recent weeks and one was murdered.

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