Nikki Haley requests Secret Service protection after increased threats

Caption

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign event at New Realm Brewing Co. Sunday in Charleston, S.C. On Tuesday, her campaign confirmed the former South Carolina governor requested Secret Service protections. / AP

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has requested Secret Service protection following an increase in threats, according to a campaign spokeswoman.

The request also comes after so-called "swatting" attacks — when people make false reports to law enforcement with the intent of provoking an emergency police response — targeting her South Carolina home.

The former South Carolina governor recently told NBC's "Meet the Press" that one of those incidents took place while she was away but her elderly parents were at home.

"The last thing you want is to see multiple law enforcement officials with guns drawn pointing at my parents ... it is an awful situation," she said at the time.

Haley also told NBC that she'd "had threats made."

While campaigning in South Carolina on Monday, Haley told the Wall Street Journal that the campaign has had "multiple issues" that led to the request for Secret Service protection.

Haley has been campaigning heavily in her home state ahead of its Republican primary on Feb. 24.