ROME, Ga. — Police responded to a second "swatting" incident at the home of Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene early on Thursday.
Rome Police Department said the call came from an internet chat but was pretending to be from a suicide hotline. The department said the caller claimed to have shot their family after coming out as transgender. The caller told police they would shoot themselves and anyone who tried to stop them.
When police arrived, they told Greene why they were there. Officials said they could not trace the call.
This is the second "swatting" incident this week at Greene's home; the first happened on Tuesday.
In a report obtained by 11Alive, Rome police note they received a call from a Virginia crisis line informing them of a man who had been shot five times in a bathtub. The caller also said that a woman was still in the home who possibly had children with her.
Greene told the Charlie Kirk Show that when her doorbell rang about 1 a.m. Wednesday, she picked up her gun and walked toward the door -- then decided to put down the firearm.
"So I put my gun down and went down the hallway. And the house was still dark. And I came around the corner and looked out the windows and I saw the police outside. And they had their guns. They were ready," Greene said.
Answering the door, she said she talked to the officer.
"I said, 'no, this is all wrong.' I brought them inside, I said, ' come inside,' I said – they said, 'yeah, we realize what happened. You’ve been swatted.'"
And then it happened again at Greene’s home, some 26 hours later.
Police said the 911 calls came from third party crisis lines – making the source of the fake emergency harder to trace.
"Not only did they put my life and my family’s life in danger, they also put the police officer’s lives in danger. So whoever this person is, they deserve to be locked up," Greene said.
Another 911 caller using a computerized voice claimed responsibility later, saying they wanted to "SWAT" Greene because of her stance on transgender youth rights.
What is 'swatting'?
According to multiple definitions, "swatting" happens when someone makes a false report to emergency services under the pretext that a crime is being committed or someone is being held hostage to try and prompt a massive police response to a particular address.
It is punishable by federal law, under the "Interstate Swatting Hoax Act" which was passed by Congress in 2015. Those who violate the law could face prison time ranging from five years up to life in prison, depending on the severity of the circumstances, including whether any injuries or deaths happen.