Far-right Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene said on Wednesday that she was “swatted” at around 1am.
“I can’t express enough gratitude to my local law enforcement here in Rome, Floyd County. More details to come,” the congresswoman wrote on Twitter.
A spokesperson for the congresswoman told The Independent that Ms Greene’s team was coordinating with local law enforcement agencies in response to the incident.
“Right now, Congresswoman Greene’s safety is our number one concern. Late last night, she was a victim of a political attack on her family and home. Whoever who committed this violent crime will face the full extent of the law,” said Nick Dyer.
In an interview with conservative host Charlie Kirk, Ms Greene said she typically answers her door armed with a gun.
“I’m a Second Amendment supporter and I believe in defending myself. And normally I answer the door with a gun, especially if it’s someone I don’t expect coming to my home.”
Police in Rome, Georgia, also released a statement to Fox Atlanta confirming the 1am incident and also stating that a second call from the unknown suspect who made the false report stated that the caller’s motivation was Ms Greene’s opposition to transgender rights.
The department is working with Capitol Police in the investigation, and at no point was Ms Greene ever in immediate danger, according to the statement.
Ms Greene gave a number of statements about the incident to right-leaning outlets, incuding Right Side Broadcasting. In her interview with that YouTube channel, she explained that her enemies were hoping to ensure her “death by cop”.
“If there’s a police officer with a happy trigger finger, you don’t know what could happen. If they saw me with a gun, they may have fired at me,” she told the channel’s viewers.
“Swatting” generally refers to the dangerous act of making a false call to emergency services warning of an active shooter or other similar threat with the intention of provoking an armed law enforcement response. What some call a prank has led to the death of an innocent person at least once; in a 2017 incident, a man was killed by police in Wichita, Kansas after an attempt by two videogamers to “swat” a rival player went extremely wrong and police were sent to a fake address supplied by the intended victim.
Ms Greene herself was stripped of her committee assignments in a rare bipartisan move after previous comments were unearthen made by Ms Greene endorsing violence against Democrats.
