Marjorie Taylor Greene says she was 'swatted' for 8th time: 'It was terrifying'
Swatting has become more common as private info is easier to obtain on social media
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called for the authorities to investigate and punish criminals, known as "swatters," who falsely call emergency services to someone’s home or another specific location.
On "Jesse Watters Primetime," Greene said that being "swatted" for an eighth time was "terrifying."
"You can see this video in my home where I had to go to the door in the middle of the night, where the SWAT team had showed up, they had gun[s] in hand," she said Tuesday night.
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"They had been told that I had murdered someone and that I was ready to commit suicide and that I was willing to shoot police officers when they came into my house," Greene explained.
Swatting, which is illegal, is used to target specific individuals or locations. A caller reports a false incident, such as a home killing or bomb threat, to emergency dispatchers with the goal of getting armed officers on high alert to respond. It’s also a practice that’s grown more frequent as information, such as people’s private home addresses, becomes easier to obtain on social media.
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"It's extremely serious," she said.
"It's so serious that not only has it happened to me eight times, it's also happened to my family members," Greene continued.
"Both of my daughters were swatted over Christmas, along with dozens of other congressmen [and] women, senators and state government officials."
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Greene said that while she expected the FBI or other government agencies to be able to track down the perpetrators of the swatting calls, she was concerned that she was the victim of a larger, coordinated attack.
"I've started to ask: is this an attack on our government, as well as an attack on the police?" she added. "And is the Biden administration capable of handling what is happening with attempted assassinations on government officials because we know the Biden administration is not capable of stopping the invasion at the southern border which has surely brought terrorists into our country."
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Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., said they have also been swatted.
Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.