Most of us are snuggled in our beds come 1am. Even if we aren’t quite asleep, the house is. The lights are off. Kiddos are tucked in. And the last of the dishes are washed and put away, waiting for the next day.
But Marjorie Taylor Greene didn’t have the nice peaceful slumber most of us enjoyed. Instead, she was the target of a serious prank that could’ve ended with devastating results.
Greene was the victim of “swatting.” I’ve never seen it in person, only on a Lifetime movie. The idea that this actually happens is quite disturbing.
The Gateway Pundit reports:
“Swatting” is the action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.
This is a dangerous prank used by the American left against their political opponents. It is very dangerous because it could lead to a violent confrontation if the police are not aware of the situation.
Rep. Greene posted this on Twitter this an hour ago.
Last night, I was swatted just after 1 am.
I can’t express enough gratitude to my local law enforcement here in Rome, Floyd County.
More details to come.
Of course, the leftist trolls responded with typical hate under her tweet. They don’t have to worry about being banned and they delight in the thought of MTG being harmed.
It’s sad just how many comments I had to scroll through before finding a shred of common sense.
This is absolutely insane that a sitting Congresswoman would get swatted just weeks after President Trump was raided by the FBI. This fake administration has weaponized law enforcement agencies to do what they want when they want. This should scare the hell out of both parties.
— Saundra McDowell (@mcdowellformo) August 24, 2022
Greater Consequences
For the leftists who find this prank amusing, it’s time you step back and consider the greater consequences. Sadly, we will never know if this action created a deadly reaction. But I can tell you, pranks like these can cost innocent lives.
Imagine the first responders dispatched to scenes like this day after day. Police aren’t the only ones to roll out to these scenes. Other first responders such as firemen and EMT’s show up just as fast. Imagine the father having a heart attack ten miles away who doesn’t have an available EMT because they are detained at a staged scene. It’s not a very pleasant image.
Worse, imagine if police show up, armed to the hilt, and the homeowners are extremely afraid because they’ve been caught off guard. Between our newfound disregard of the law and the growing racial tensions in our country, this is exactly the kind of scenario that could incite violence between civilians and police.
In some instances, homeowners have suffered heart attacks due to the extreme stress of the police showing up with SWAT at their homes. And we haven’t even gotten to the outrageous costs associated with these dreadful pranks. Every time a SWAT team rolls out, it costs the cities/counties thousands of dollars.
The FBI Weighs In
Most incidents of swatting happen between gamers and YouTubers. They’re typically crimes of revenge. And the FBI doesn’t take these crimes lightly. In fact, they’ve arrested numerous perpetrators over the past 15 years.
“The FBI looks at these crimes as a public safety issue,” said Kevin Kolbye, an assistant special agent in charge in our Dallas Division. “It’s only a matter of time before somebody gets seriously injured as a result of one of these incidents.”
“People who make these swatting calls are very credible,” he said. “They have no trouble convincing 9-1-1 operators they are telling the truth.” And thanks to “spoofing” technology—which enables callers to mask their own numbers while making the victims’ numbers appear—emergency operators are doubly tricked.
Most who engage in swatting are serial offenders also involved in other cyber crimes such as identity theft and credit card fraud, Kolbye said. They either want to brag about their swatting exploits or exact revenge on someone who angered them online.
Kolbye suggests making a police report about any swatting threats you receive online. Such threats typically come from the online gaming community, where competitors can play and interact anonymously. With a report on file, if a 9-1-1 incident does occur at your home, the police will be aware that it could be a hoax.
“The FBI takes swatting very seriously,” Kolbye said. “Working closely with industry and law enforcement partners, we continue to refine our technological capabilities and our investigative techniques to stop the thoughtless individuals who commit these crimes. The bottom line,” he added, “is that swatting puts innocent people at risk.”
The Matthew Weigman Case
In 2009, Matthew Weigman, then 19 years old, was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for a swatting conspiracy that had been going on for years.
A prolific phone hacker, Weigman and nine co-conspirators used social engineering and other scams to obtain personal information, impersonate and harass telecommunications employees, and manipulate phone systems to carry out dozens of swatting incidents, along with other crimes. Several of his co-conspirators also received jail time.
Weigman’s first swatting incident occurred in 2004 when he was 14 years old. When a girl he met through an online chat room refused to have phone sex with him, he retaliated by swatting the girl and her father, convincing a 9-1-1 operator he was holding the two at gunpoint in their Colorado home, which prompted a SWAT response.
Despite the FBI’s left-leaning agenda, I hope they will track down MTG’s swatter. This isn’t just a public nuisance, this is a threat to our public safety. It’s time leftists stop catering to the people they like, and return to the days when “to protect and serve” was the goal, and Justice was blind to political affiliations.
