The residence of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley in South Carolina was the scene of a false emergency last month when a man allegedly threatened to hurt himself and claimed to have shot a lady, according to town documents recently seen by Reuters.
Since the 2020 election, law enforcement has been alarmed by a wave of violent threats, bomb scares, and other intimidation against government officials, judges, and election administrators. The previously unreported "swatting" incident is one of them.
Swatting is a criminal harassing crime that involves tricking an emergency agency into sending a response team to another's residence.
December Swatting Incident
On December 30, 2023, in the gated enclave of Kiawah Island, there was a fake perpetrated against Haley, who is running against Republican presidential nominee and former leader Donald Trump.
Craig Harris, the director of public safety on Kiawah Island, reportedly informed town officials last December 30 that an unidentified individual had contacted 911 and "claimed to have shot his girlfriend and threatened to harm himself while at the residence of Nikki Haley."
It turned out to be a false alarm. Haley was with her son, and neither of them was on the island.
Harris claimed to have been in touch with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the head of Haley's security detail, and the state police in South Carolina.
Neither a suspect nor a possible motivation were mentioned in the report.
An email obtained by Reuters from a South Carolina FBI officer informed Harris and other law enforcement authorities that federal investigators were investigating the fake call and planned to launch a "threat assessment" into the situation.
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Spike in Swat Incidents
There has been an uptick in swat cases in the last two months, with Trump's supporters and opponents alike being targeted as he runs for reelection. Maine Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who blocked Trump on her state's primary ballot, is among the targets.
Someone has decided to take aim at the judges and one prosecutor who are dealing with Trump's cases. US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and others who support Trump have also been the targets of swatting attempts.
Swatting or falsely reporting suspicious activity to the police in order to provoke an overreaction might put policemen in harm's way. The authorities participating in the civil and criminal lawsuits against Trump are among the notable persons who are being targeted by this kind of intimidation or harassment, according to law enforcement specialists.
