Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on Thursday became the latest public official to claim publicly that his house had been “swatted” while he was at dinner with his wife.
These incidents, often targeted at politicians, refer to the large-scale response by law enforcement to false calls of an emergency at someone’s home.
“Last night, while at dinner with my wife, cowards ‘swatted’ my home in Naples,” Scott said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “These criminals wasted the time & resources of our law enforcement in a sick attempt to terrorize my family.”
Scott thanked the Naples Police Department and the Collier County Sheriff’s office “for all they do to keep us safe.”
Multiple politicians on both sides of the political aisle have claimed to be victims of swatting incidents lately.
On Christmas Day, GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Brandon Williams (N.Y.) both said their homes were swatted. The Boston Police Department said Mayor Michelle Wu (D) was also the subject of a swatting incident Monday.
Greene estimated that was the eighth time she had been swatted. Local police said multiple calls into a crisis hotline cited Greene’s address in Rome, Ga., but officials ultimately determined there was no threat at her home. Williams said the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office contacted him to confirm it was a false threat before arriving at his residence.
It was not clear whether the incidents were linked. Police in Rome, Ga., confirmed they received multiple reports of an emergency at Greene’s address in Georgia and at the same address in Rome, N.Y. — Williams’s district.
In June, the FBI launched a national database to track swatting incidents following a push from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who called the attacks “dangerous, disturbing and downright terrifying.”