By Matthew Lysiak(Epoch Times)

A growing trend of conservative politicians and thought leaders being targeted by 911 calls claiming fake emergencies, often leading to armed officers or tactical teams arriving at their homes, could lead to serious injury or even death, according to a recent victim.

Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) told The Epoch Times that he was sitting down with his family on Christmas Day when he received a call from the local sheriff’s office notifying him that there had been a shooting inside of his home and that police were en route. He immediately took the call as a threat against his family.

“Someone was hoping that police might kill me or my family, that’s exactly what happens in these swatting cases,” said Mr. Williams. “These well intentioned police come in heavy, thinking there is an urgent crisis and for someone not expecting that it creates a lot of confusion.”

Mr. Williams said it was stressful, but hoped his actions on that day would help set an example for his children on how to deal with law enforcement when confronted with a tense situation.

“I met the police outside with my hands open and then brought them inside the house where my wife and two children were, also with their hands open,” said Mr. Williams. “My goal was to make it easy for them.”

“After they walked through the house and were satisfied it was a false alarm, we sent them home with some zip lock bags full of Christmas cookies,” said Mr. Williams.

Police are working to identify the callers but no arrests have been made.

However, Mr. Williams is only the latest Republican to find themselves being “swatted,” as it has become known, where a call is made to law enforcement claiming an emergency situation with the goal of tactical teams with weapons drawn barging into the target’s home.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said that she was also the target of a swatting attempt at her Georgia residence on Christmas morning.

“I was just swatted,” wrote Ms. Greene on a Dec. 25 post on X. “This is like the 8th time. On Christmas with my family here.”

“My local police are the GREATEST and shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

Several calls were made to a crisis hotline from multiple locations from a man who claimed to have shot and killed his girlfriend at Ms. Greene’s address. The caller added that he was going to kill himself next, according to a Rome Police Department spokesperson.

Law enforcement were able to quickly recognize the address and verify that the call was a hoax after speaking with the congresswoman’s security detail and before dispatching officers or tactical teams to the house. However, in past incidents Ms. Greene wasn’t as fortunate. Police have responded to prior calls from people claiming shots had been fired outside of her residence. Other phony emergency calls included claims of dead bodies being found in various areas of the congresswoman’s home.

There are no statewide or national totals available on the number of false “swatting” calls made to politicians or public figures. However, increasingly, high profile conservatives have been revealing how they and their families have been victims.

Jack Posobiec, a popular conservative influencer, said his parents were “swatted” on Dec. 23, with someone falsely telling authorities the commentator had shot his parents and was also threatening to shoot his own family.

“Parents just got swatted again,” wrote Mr. Posobiec in a Dec 25 post on X. “Christmas night. They told the officers that I had shot my wife and sons in the kitchen.”
Mr. Posobiec continued, “It is clear federal law is currently inadequate on swatting incidents whether to schools, public figures, or Members of Congress. Such law must be updated. In addition, Congress must address the total failure of federal law enforcement agencies to deal with these violent threats.”

Mr. Williams says that while he can’t guess the specific intentions of the perpetrators of these incidences, he does believe it to be a form of political intimidation.

“The reason I believe this happened to me is that I’m in one of the five or 10 most competitive districts in the nation and for the Democrats to win back the majority they need to win seats like mine. There are also a lot of organized groups in support of Hamas that don’t like voices like mine,” he said, referring to the Palestinian terrorist group.

“Its hard to know what is in the mind of these crazy people,” he added.

However, until those who perpetuate these kinds of acts are brought to justice, the very real risk of tragedy will persist, according to Mr. Williams.

“The people need to know what is going on and that this isn’t some kind of prank. It puts the police in a very dangerous situation,” said Mr. Williams. “It puts everyone in a bad situation.”

“If this had happened at 3am in the morning it could have been a very different outcome,” he added.