Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was the target of a swatting attempt at her Georgia residence on Christmas morning, the congresswoman and local police said, marking the latest case of someone calling a fake emergency to bring armed officers to her home to lure.
Rome police quickly determined the call was a hoax and did not send officers to the home, department spokesperson Kelly Madden said.
“I was just beaten. This is about the 8th time. Here at Christmas with my family. My local police are the GREATEST and should not have to deal with this,” Greene wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
A man in New York called Georgia's suicide hotline just before 11 a.m. Monday, claiming he had shot his girlfriend at Greene's home and then killed himself, Madden said. The call was quickly forwarded to police when suicide hotline responders recognized the Georgian congressman's address.
The department said it contacted Greene's private security service to confirm she was safe and that there was no emergency at her home. The call was subsequently determined to be a swatting attempt, so the police response was canceled along the way, Madden explained.
“Before our staff could reach her location, we determined that there was no emergency and there was no need to respond,” she said. “Her security staff had it all under control, and nothing was really wrong.”
The congresswoman, who represents the northwest Georgia cities of Rome, Dalton and Calhoun, spent her first term without committee assignments from the former Democratic majority in the House of Representatives because of racist comments, her embrace of conspiracy theories and her past endorsement of violence against Democratic officials. Since then, she has gained more influence under the current Republican leadership of the House of Representatives and remains a favorite for the far right.
Greene's statement that she has been the target of about eight swatting attempts is accurate, Madden said. Previous calls claimed dead bodies were found in the bathtub and other parts of her home, which is about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of Atlanta. Police also responded to false reports of shootings outside her home last year.
The department said it sent officers to the home in response to those previous incidents, but has since developed a close working relationship with Greene's security department, allowing officers to better assess the threat level.
The Criminal Investigations Division is working to identify Monday's caller and build a case, Madden said.
Another New York man was sentenced to three months in prison in August for making threatening phone calls to Greene's Washington DC office.