Rash of swattings must stop, FBI director says

FBI head Kash Patel on Friday said his agency was investigating an alarming uptick in swatting incidents targeting media figures. Swatting, which involves falsely reporting a crime to trigger a police response at the home of an unsuspecting person, is illegal. The FBI will work with local law enforcement to find and punish those responsible for the dangerous trend, Patel said.

The swatting incidents Patel mentioned seem to have taken place in the last week, mainly targeting conservative media figures. One of the most recent incidents happened Sunday night at the home of conservative freelance columnist Larry Taunton. Taunton said nine police cars and multiple officers with AR-15s and body armor approached his home silently in the middle of the night. They came in response to a call from someone claiming to be hidden in the house while Taunton shot people. The situation de-escalated once Taunton spoke to the officers—but could have turned deadly, he said.

Who else says they were swatted in the past week?

• Trump impersonator and host of the Ungoverned podcast Shawn Farash

• National talk show host Joe Pags Pagliarulo

• Self-described investigative journalist Walter Curt

• Family members of reporter Nick Sortor

• A former U.S. Department of Energy staffer who frequently posts about his conservative views

• MAGA influencer Phillip Buchanan, known as Catturd on X

• InfoWars host Chase Geiser

• Political commentator David J. Freeman

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report about Republican lawmakers and a Democratic mayor getting swatted over the holidays in 2023.