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On Monday, January 15, a significant number of emergency personnel responded to the White House after a 911 call falsely claimed that a person was trapped inside a building in the presence of a fire. President Joe Biden was not present in the premises when the incident occurred. Law enforcement determined that they received a false call a little more than 15 minutes after they were alerted.
The emergency call was made at 7:03 am ET. Multiple Washington D.C. fire and emergency service units were sent to the White House. The District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services and the U.S. Secret Service personnel quickly determined that it was a false report and called off the response to the call.
When law enforcement called back to the number that alerted them about the fire, the person who responded said that they did not place the call in the first place, indicating that they were spoofed.
It appears as if the White House was “swatted.” For those uninitiated, swatting is a dangerous criminal hoax where false reports are made to the police with the intent to lure large police units to a location. People make false reports in such cases by claiming that they are in the midst of a mass shooting, bombing or have been taken hostage among other claims.
“How much of a menace do you have to be”: White House swatting incident causes uproar online
Internet users were stunned to learn that the White House had been swatted. Many wondered how the Secret Service did not recognize that they had received a fake call. Others also wondered why Joe Biden was on vacation.
Several netizens relentlessly trolled the White House and said:
News of the recent swatting was made public by a person who was not authorized to speak to the press about the same. They decided to speak to The Associated Press on the condition of being allowed anonymity.
Instances of swatting in the U.S. explored
The White House is not the only government establishment to get swatted. Several politicians and celebrities across the country have been victims of the same. Recently, The Guardian reported that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows were also swatted. The latter was overseeing the $370 million civil fraud case against former President Donald Trump.
Just eight days ago, Judge Tanya Chutkan was also swatted. A fake call about a shooting at her residence was made to law enforcement. The Metropolitan police department quickly noted that the call was a hoax.
According to the aforementioned outlet, Judge Arthur Engoron also was a victim of a swatting incident after he received a bomb threat.
Speaking about swatting, Attorney General Merrick Harland stated that it was “deeply disturbing” during a private meeting with the justice department. According to the mentioned news outlet, he also added:
“These threats of violence are unacceptable. They threaten the fabric of our democracy.”
President Joe Biden must have returned to the White House at the time of writing this article. The current Potus was spending the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. He also attended a Martin Luther King Jr Day commemoration in Philadelphia.
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