Police investigating swatting incident at New York lawmaker’s home

Rep. Brandon Williams’ (R-N.Y.) home was “swatted” on Christmas, he said, with multiple police units responding to a false call of an emergency.

Williams said the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office contacted him before arriving at the home, causing a relief at the false alarm.

“Our home was swatted this afternoon,” he said Monday on X, formerly Twitter. “Thanks to the Deputies and Troopers who contacted me before arriving. They left with homemade cookies and spiced nuts! Merry Christmas everyone!”

“The deputies & troopers were polite, professional, & prompt,” he added. God bless them,”

Williams is the second member of Congress who got swatted on Christmas Day; Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said her home was also approached by local police over a false call.

It is unknown if the two cases are related. Rome, Ga., police said they received multiple reports of an emergency at Greene’s address in Georgia and the same address in Rome, N.Y. — Williams’s district.

A string of about 200 swatting incidents struck Jewish institutions last weekend as the religious holiday of Hanukkah came to a close.

Swatting has become an increasingly common form of online harassment in recent years, especially among celebrities and internet livestreamers. Police responses often put the victim in danger because police are led to believe that there may be a threat inside a home.

The FBI launched a national database for the incidents in June in an effort to better combat the practice.