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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene target of swatting attempt
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A swatting attempt targeted the U.S. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Christmas at her Georgia residence, police say.
Swatting is a deliberate, illegal harassment practice of making false crime reports to emergency services in order to draw local police or SWAT teams to a particular location. It's often used to target someone's residence or place of work and can be fueled through social media to spread misinformation.
Greene posted about the incident on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying it is the eighth attempt.
According to The Associated Press, Kelly Madden, a spokesperson for the city of Rome, Ga., confirmed that the call was a hoax and did not send officers to Greene's house. Madden told the AP that a man in New York called a Georgia suicide hotline and claimed he had shot his girlfriend at Greene's home and was going to kill himself next.
"My local police are the GREATEST and shouldn't have to deal with this," Greene said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
She also wrote that she was swatted on Dec. 21, when a man sent death threats on social media. According to her post, a suspect has not been arrested yet.
"Swatting is extremely dangerous and people have been killed as a result from swatting calls. It's also a waste of police time and resources and harassment," Greene wrote. "I will be introducing legislation to track down swatters."
Rome police said it has formed a close working relationship with Greene's security detail and is in the process of identifying the latest harasser, Madden told the AP.
This is not the first time the congresswoman, who is known for embracing conspiracy theories, has been targeted. Last month, a man in Georgia was arrested after threatening to kill her.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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