Republican candidate Nikki Haley was targeted in second swatting attempt
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The hoaxes against Mrs Nikki Haley occurred in the town of Kiawah Island, an affluent, gated South Carolina community.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - Two days after a man called in a fake emergency at the South Carolina home of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, she was targeted by a second “swatting” attempt on New Year’s Day, this time by someone who said Mrs Haley had shot her daughter, according to an incident report seen by Reuters.
A Charleston County sheriff’s deputy responded on Jan 1 to Mrs Haley’s home after a person who identified herself as “Rose” called 911 claiming Mrs Haley’s daughter was lying in a pool of blood and Mrs Haley was threatening to shoot herself, a sheriff’s office report said.
The caller claimed to be on the phone with Mrs Haley.
The deputy spoke to an unidentified woman at the front door who matched Mrs Haley’s description and quickly concluded the call was a hoax, according to the report, which Reuters received in response to a request for records of swatting incidents at Mrs Haley’s residence.
The Jan 1 swatting attempt has not been previously reported.
The hoaxes against Mrs Haley, who is challenging front runner former president Donald Trump
Reuters reported on Jan 27 that Mrs Haley’s Kiawah Island home had been swatted on Dec 30, when a man called the authorities and claimed to have shot a woman
The swatting incidents are among a wave of violent threats, bomb scares and other acts of intimidation against government officials, members of the judiciary and election administrators since the 2020 election that have alarmed United States law enforcement officials ahead of 2024’s US presidential contest.
Mrs Haley did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sheriff’s office has not publicly identified any suspects in the hoax calls.
Swatting is the filing of false reports to the police to set off a potentially dangerous response by officers.
Law enforcement experts see it as a form of intimidation or harassment that is increasingly being used to target prominent figures, including officials involved in the civil and criminal cases against Trump.
On NBC’s Meet The Press on Jan 28, Mrs Haley alluded to a second swatting attempt but did not provide a date for the incident or share details of what happened. “I think we’ve had it happen twice,” she said.
Swatting cases have surged over the past two months, targeting both allies and rivals of Trump as he campaigns to return to the White House.
“Swatting and physical threats are designed to terrorise the civil servants our democracy relies upon,” said Mr David Becker, executive director of the non-partisan Centre for Election Innovation and Research. “As the presidential campaign ramps up, it appears that harassment is increasing.”
Targets have included figures publicly opposed to Trump, such as Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat who barred him from her state’s primary ballot.
Judges and at least one prosecutor handling cases against Trump have been targeted. Trump backers, such as US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have also faced swatting attempts.
Guns drawn, elderly parents home
In the Dec 30 incident, Mrs Haley’s parents, aged 87 and 90, and their caretaker were home at the time, according to records received by Reuters on Jan 29, which provided new information on the incident.
Deputies “observed a silhouette of an individual through the second-floor window balcony. Deputies presented their weapons and ordered the individual to raise their hands”, an incident report from the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies then observed two people raise their hands, and possibly a third person, through the window.
The incident report did not identify the individuals.
But Mrs Haley said on Jan 28 that deputies had “guns drawn pointing at my parents”.
A deputy approached the front door and spoke to the caretaker, who said no one had been shot, the incident report said. Deputies later spoke to the home owner, seemingly Mrs Haley, on the phone, it added.
“It put my family in danger,” Mrs Haley said in the Jan 28 TV interview about the Dec 30 incident. “It was not a safe situation. And that goes to show the chaos that’s surrounding our country right now.”
The call was made by a man who identified himself as “Travis”, according to the incident report.
Officials spoke with the occupants of the home and let them listen to the 911 call, but they “did not recognise the voice”, the report said.
The authorities were unable to locate the number the call originated from, the report added.
However, the authorities appear to have more information about the Jan 1 call. The report on that incident, which was released to Reuters with redactions, said the authorities had determined the caller’s phone number.
Mrs Haley and her husband bought the US$2.4 million (S$3.2 million) Kiawah Island residence in October 2019, local property records indicate. REUTERS
