Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) says she was the victim of a “swatting” prank at her home in Rome, Georgia. The Congresswoman posted on Twitter about the event, and later, the Rome Police Department confirmed her claim.
“Swatting” is a term used to describe an illegal practice in which pranksters “make false police reports in an attempt to get law enforcement to raid the home of an innocent person.” The incident took place about 1:00 a.m.
In her Twitter post, Greene thanked local law enforcement for the manner in which they handled the incident. She did not elaborate any further on the details of the incident, however.
According to reports, an anonymous individual called the 911 center associated with Rome’s police department. The called said that a man in Greene’s home “had been shot multiple times” while in a bathtub in Greene’s home. In response, the Rome PD sent five officers to Greene’s home. CNBC says that the officers were given an address when sent to Greene’s property, but they were only told while en route to the property that they would be arriving at the Congresswoman’s home.
MTG answered the door when the officers arrived, and she assured them that nothing was amiss in her home. However, the officers conducted a brief search. They were able to ascertain that nothing nefarious had taken place, and they determined that they all must have been the victims of a false report. Newsweek is reporting that the initial call was made from a “Virginia crisis line”
Sometime after the officers arrived at Marjorie Taylor Greene’s home, the unknown called made a second call, which was masked so that they could not determine the caller’s identity or location. The caller then confessed to police dispatchers that the false report was made purposely. The individual would elaborate that the caller had done so in response to the outspoken lawmaker’s stance on the transgender movement.
Newsweek reports the suspect (possibly a second suspect) told the police during the confession that the initial call was made using a “computer-generated voice.” They were “trying to SWAT her” in regards to “transgender youth rights.”
The news outlet is also reporting that the suspect confessed the perpetrators of the SWAT are a part of a cyberstalking website group called kiwifarm.net. The individual said the group’s name is “AltisticRight.”
Investigators were able to determine that the original call location was near Richmond, Virginia.
Just last Friday, MTG appeared on Sean Hannity’s nighttime television show to announce that she had introduced legislation regarding gender-reassignment operations on minors under the age of eighteen as well as the prescribing of puberty blockers and other medications for minors in the name of “gender affirming care.”
Greene’s legislation, the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, would make it a felony to provide these services to minors. Greene has described performing gender-reassignment surgery on minors, including mastectomies and hysterectomies, as “child abuse” and “child mutilation.”
The legislation came as a response to a social media account, Libs of TikTok, which posted a video of one of the physicians who works at Boston Children’s Hospital speaking about these types of procedures. By the end of the week, the social media account had been booted from – then allowed back on – Facebook.
Boston Children’s Hospital Staff has said they’ve received threats since the video was posted on social media.
A spokesperson for Greene’s office, Nick Dyer, spoke to Newsweek; he stated that “Congresswoman Greene’s safety is our number one concern.” Dyer added that the person responsible would “face the full extent of the law.”
Greene would later say that the swatting prank was a political attack on her family and home.”
Other than a brief statement Wednesday morning, the Rome Police Department has said very little about the SWAT incident, save confirming MTG’s tweet and detailing what they knew about the perpetrator(s). The law enforcement agency would later say that the matter is still considered an ongoing police investigation, so they could comment no further.
