A U.S. Congressman from Tennessee was the victim of a “swatting” over the weekend, a tactic that is more frequently being used to attack political foes in the United States.Â
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) was the victim of the nefarious incident.Â
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Four Ohio officials were targeted over the past week in a nationwide swatting operation, according to reports.
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Georgia State Senator Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett) is the second Georgia Republican to report being swatted on Christmas Day, with U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) posted about her own experience on social media.
The Gwinnett Police Department (GPD) confirmed to The Georgia Star News on Tuesday the department is investigating after Dixon was swatted on December 25, but a spokesman said the department could not comment about possible suspects or the status of the investigation.
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Georgia U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) suggested this week that somebody attempted to spy on her through a television in her Washington D.C. residence.
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In response to 8 Ohio schools going into lock down on Friday, due to an internet hoax that sent false reports about active shooters on their campuses, additional support has been gathered for Senator Andrew Brenner’s (R-Delaware) bill (SB292) to stop ‘swatting’ and making fake emergency calls a felony in the state.
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, ‘swatting’ is: to make a false report of an ongoing serious crime in order to elicit a response from law enforcement (such as the dispatch of a SWAT unit)
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Over a dozen school districts across Virginia were targeted by hoax reports of active shootings or other violence on Monday and Tuesday. That’s part of a broader wave of similar hoax calls targeting schools across the U.S.
“On Monday, Virginia State Police personnel responded to assist numerous local police and sheriff’s offices with reports of active shooters on school campuses,” Virginia State Police Public Relations Director Corinne Geller told The Virginia Star. “None of the threats were deemed valid, and the state police, through collaboration with the Virginia Fusion Center, is now working with those same local law enforcement agencies to investigate the source of the threats and to determine if there is any evidence to connect them.”
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Penalties for fleeing police officers and making false 911 calls would increase if a pair of bills aimed at first-responder safety introduced in the Ohio House become law.
House Bill 580, which has had one hearing in the House Criminal Justice Committee, increases penalities for fleeing from a law enforcement officer in a motor vehicle from a first-degree misdemeanor to a fourth-degree felony at a minimum in all cases.
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