'I had 60 seconds to protect my family': Swatting targets US politicians

On Christmas Day last year, Republican Congressman Brandon Williams was enjoying exchanging gifts with his family when a call came in on his cell phone.

At first, he didn't recognise the number, so ignored it. But when the phone's software transcribed the voicemail, he saw with horror that it was a message from the local Sheriff's office describing a shooting at his home.

Police had received a report that a man claiming to have killed his girlfriend was threatening to shoot himself, and that there were children in the house.

He immediately knew it was a swatting incident, he told the BBC.

"I had to put my family in a safe place, and be prepared to engage with the police in a way to de-escalate immediately," he recalled, "and I only had 60 seconds to make that happen."

Swatting is the act of making a hoax call to the police and alleging a serious violent crime so that a heavily-armed Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT Team) is dispatched. Innocent people have died in previous incidents.

Obviously frightened, the family gathered in the kitchen.

"I just told them, don't pick up any knives, make sure your hands are where they can be seen."

"My wife really felt violated," he said. "Not only is it Christmas Day, but this is a threat to our home, and to our family, and not just on any day, but on Christmas Day."

Congressman Williams said he has no doubt that the incident was politically motivated.

As an outspoken supporter of Israel, he gained some national prominence by conducting a rival protest when pro-Palestine supporters held a demonstration at the Capitol last autumn.

And he said that just before Christmas, neighbours reported a car in the area asking for the location of his home. Then 10 days later, a Hamas yard sign was placed by his mailbox.

"This is an assassination attempt - it's not a prank, it's someone trying to provoke a police response that ends up in somebody being harmed."

Brandon Williams is not alone.

Dozens of members of Congress from both parties have been subjected to similar swatting incidents in recent months.

Two judges involved in cases relating to Donald Trump have also been swatted. So has the Special Counsel, Jack Smith, who's prosecuting the former president for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. And Mr. Trump's main Republican rival for the party's presidential nomination, Nikki Haley, has now asked for Secret Service protection after two swatting incidents at her home.

The problem has become so widespread that, last May, the FBI set up a national database to track incidents. Nationwide, it has received more than 500 reports of swatting against people in all walks of life.

"The FBI is aware of numerous swatting and hoax threat incidents and takes these types of threats very seriously as it puts innocent people at risk," a spokesman told the BBC.

The recent spate has gone well beyond members of Congress and judicial figures.

Democrat Shenna Bellows, the Secretary of State for Maine, told the BBC that as soon as she announced she was disqualifying Donald Trump from the presidential primary ballot in her state on 28 December, the threats began.

"We immediately received a barrage of threatening and abusive communications coming into this office targeting not only me, but people around me, including members of my family," she said. "It was overwhelming and anxiety producing."

Hours later, that evening, her home was swatted.

Police were called saying a man had broken into Secretary Bellows' home. Fortunately she was away for the weekend.

It has changed her whole behaviour. Now she doesn't answer unknown numbers on her phone and, on occasion, takes a security detail when she travels.

She described a recent visit to Maine's eastern-most town of Calais. "I had a fabulous dinner last night and saw a beautiful sunrise this morning," she said. "I posted none of that on social media, because suddenly it's no longer safe to share where you are in the moment."

Like Congressman Williams, Secretary Bellows is in no doubt why she was swatted.

"I doubt it was a coincidence that 24 hours after issuing my decision, I was swatted for the first time."

Secretary Bellows said some Republican friends, who'd disagreed with her decision to remove Donald Trump from the ballot, had nonetheless, been horrified at what had happened.

One of them gave her a hug, a jar of raspberry jam and a can of mace, she told the BBC. She stopped short of blaming Donald Trump's supporters for the incident but said that the threats against local and state election officials were because of the lie about the 2020 presidential election.

"If you believe that an election was stolen from you because politicians are perpetrating those lies, then some individuals are then incited to take action against those they hold responsible," she explained, "in this case, local election officials, and that is very dangerous for democracy."

While police have had little success in catching those responsible for the current wave of swatting calls against politicians, they have prosecuted some individuals in the past.

In 2019, a man from California was sent to prison for 20 years after being convicted for making dozens of swatting calls. One of those calls resulted in a man from Kansas being fatally shot by police. In 2021, a 19-year-old was convicted of making swatting calls, one of which resulted in a man suffering a heart attack.

But police are finding it increasingly difficult to track those responsible.

A lot of these calls are made using technology like Voice over Internet protocols (VoIP), with voice synthesisers, or even burner phones, said A. T. Smith, a former deputy director of the US Secret Service.

"When the call is received by the emergency communications dispatcher, they have no way of discerning whether this is a fake call or not," he explained. "And of course, they're obligated to dispatch the needed resources based on what they're being told."

Mr. Smith said that because of the current polarised political environment and the fact that it is an election year, the problem is only headed in one direction - worse.

Congressman Williams agreed. Even though he said he didn't feel intimidated by it and it wouldn't change how he voted or acted, he saw it as a sign of the kinds of tools being used to disrupt the American political system.

He said it's all designed to increase hate and fear and to set people against one another.

"This isn't just about one side versus the other," he said. "There's people that actually would like to tear our system down."