Far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene targeted in ‘swatting’ incident
US Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene addresses supporters during a primary election watch party in Rome, Georgia. (Jessica McGowan/Getty)
Self-proclaimed Christian nationalist Marjorie Taylor Greene has been raided by police in a “swatting” hoax at her Georgia home this week.
The far-right US Republican tweeted on Wednesday (24 August) that she had been the victim of a “swatting” just after 1am and had talked to local law enforcement about the situation.
Swatting refers to an incredibly dangerous form of harassment where an anonymous user files a police report in a victim’s local precinct pretending to be them. Typically, the report details that they are armed and have just killed a family member in an attempt to involve armed officers.
“When officers responded, they discovered this was the home of Marjorie Taylor Greene,” assistant Rome police chief Debbie Burnett said. “She assured the officers there was no issue.”
“Rome/Floyd 911 received a second call from the suspect who was using a computer-generated voice, stating that [they were] upset about Mrs Greene’s political view on transgender youth rights,” Burnett continued. “The Rome Police Department Criminal Investigation Division is working in conjunction with the Capital police on this investigation.”
Last night, I was swatted just after 1 am.
I can’t express enough gratitude to my local law enforcement here in Rome, Floyd County.
More details to come.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene?? (@RepMTG) August 24, 2022
According to Greene, attending officers entered her home and were “prepared in case the call was true” but managed to defuse the situation without any injuries.
“The fact that we are at this place in this country is terrifying. Whether it’s left or right, it should never be that way and we have to make sure people are arrested and prosecuted so these things don’t happen.”
The caller has also attributed their actions to the site KiwiFarms while talking to the police, according to NewsWeek. The site targets individuals it deems “absurd” with constant harassment.
Ironically, KiwiFarms usually targets pro-trans individuals, but this time the user ultimately decided to target Greene.
This has come as a surprise for some considering the Republican’s notorious anti-trans history, including an effort to criminalise life-saving and reversible healthcare for transgender kids.
She believes gender-affirming medical care for trans youths is “disgusting and absolutely appalling” and has also pushed multiple false claims, including the idea trans men were responsible for a June tampon shortage and that straight people are going extinct.
The KiwiFarms forum was also linked to the 2019 mass shooting in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, where 51 people were killed. After being contacted by police for assistance during the investigation of the shooting, forum owner Joshua Moon called New Zealand a “s**thole country” and refused to help.
“Isn’t it concerning that such a website exists?” Greene said during a Newsmax interview. “Like, why does that even exist? That website needs to be taken down. There should be no business or any kind of service where you can target your enemy.
“It’s also a failure of our government and failure of our law enforcement to not take down a website like that,” she added.
KiwiFarms was linked to a similar “swatting” incident against transgender streamer Clara Sorrent, better known as Keffals, which forced her to leave her home country in an effort to flee rising levels of death threats and abuse.
In an interview with Global News, Sorrenti said: “When I went into the hallway and then saw that assault rifle, I screamed and I thought I was going to die,” she said. “They seized my work computer, my work cellphone, my personal cellphone, as well as my fiance’s work computer and personal cellphone.”
After eventually being given her equipment back by London, Ontario police, Sorrenti said she was continually doxxed, hacked, and harassed on multiple occasions. She eventually opted to flee the country after switching between multiple hotels to try to escape the abuse.
“Using the money that was generously donated to me from the GoFundMe [page], I am able to keep myself safe until I secure a new place to live,” she said. “I cannot thank you all enough for giving me this opportunity that so many others have not had. I have already hired a lawyer [and] am consulting with a second lawyer.”
