The White House was 'swatted' on Monday, after a person called 911 to falsely claim that there was a fire at the residence and that someone was trapped inside. Multiple vehicles from DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services responded just after 7 a.m. ET, after which officials concluded that it was a false alarm.
And while no cops were involved, "it’s in the same spirit" of "swatting" incidents that have more recently targeted public officials, according to Noah Gray, communications director for DC fire and EMS, NBC News reports.
In so-called swatting incidents, someone makes a false report of a crime in progress to draw police to a certain location.
It's unclear who made the call or where it came from. A Secret Service spokesperson said any fire at the White House would have been immediately detected — and there clearly wasn’t one.
President Joe Biden was at Camp David when the call to 911 was made. He later traveled to Philadelphia to participate in a service event at a food bank to mark the birthday of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
In recent weeks, politicians from both parties have been 'swatted' - including 'Georgia Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, whose home was raided by authorities on Christmas Day following a suicide hotline tip, New York Rep. Brandon Williams and Florida Sen. Rick Scott. on the Republican side,' (per the NY Post), and on the Democrat side - Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, George Soros, and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who booted Donald Trump from the state's 2024 ballot last month.
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley was also swatted recently, as was the Hunter Biden laptop repair store owner, John Paul Mac Issac.
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