Nikki Haley target of swatting attack last month: reports
January 28, 2024
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was reportedly swatted by an unknown person at her South Carolina home in December, according to Reuters.
Haley, who is running against former president Donald Trump, was not present at her home in Kiawah Island, South Carolina when an unknown man called the police to her home on December 30.
The caller alleged he shot his girlfriend while at Haley’s residence and threatened to harm himself.
The former United Nations ambassador’s son was not in the area when the hoax call occurred and her husband, Michael, is currently fulfilling a year-long deployment in Africa with the South Carolina Army National Guard.
Haley was in touch with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), her team’s head of security and South Carolina’s state police, according to Reuters.
An FBI official in the Palmetto State told the Kiawah Island director of public safety, Craig Harris, and other law enforcement agencies that they were following the hoax dial and were planning to add a “threat assessment” related to the incident.
Swatting involves prank-calling emergency service members to report a criminal threat in hopes of drawing a potentially significant response from officers.
There has been a rise in "swatting" incidents targeting institutions and political figures.
Two weeks ago, emergency responders were called when a 911 caller falsely claimed a fire in the White House. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's home was swatted on Christmas day, marking the eighth time such incidents have occurred.
GOP lawmakers, Senator Tommy Tuberville and Senator Rick Scott introduced legislation to amend federal criminal hoax statutes and impose harsher penalties for swatting.
