Maine Secretary of State targeted for ‘swatting’ after Trump’s voting decision

Maine’s secretary of state was the victim of a “swatting” call to her home, authorities said. The latest politician to be targeted in recent weeks by people reporting false crimes to police, hoping to provoke a heavily armed response.

A hoax call was placed Friday evening, just a day after Secretary of State Shenna Bellows barred Donald J. Trump from voting in the state, a politically charged decision that drew criticism from Republicans across the country.

State police said that during the phone call, a man claimed to have broken into Ms. Bellows’ home in Manchester, just outside the capital, Augusta. State troopers searched the home but found nothing suspicious. Ms. Bellows was not home at the time, authorities said.

In a statement, state police said the incident is under investigation and officials are “working with our law enforcement partners to pay special attention to all appropriate locations.” No arrests have been made.

Ms. Bellows drew national attention after ruling that the former president was ineligible for the ballot due to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. In an interview with The New York Times, Ms. Bellows, a Democrat, defended her decision, saying it was not a decision she “made lightly” and that Maine election law required her to take action.

The ban, which is being challenged in court, made Maine the second state, after Colorado, to disqualify Trump from this year’s primary ballot.

In a statement on Saturday, Ms Bellows wrote that since her decision she had received escalating threats and that her home address had been leaked while she and her husband were out of town over the holiday weekend.

‘The non-stop threatening communication that the people who work for me endured all day yesterday is unacceptable’ she wrote on Facebookand added: “We should be able to agree on important issues without threats and violence.”

The number of swatting incidents has increased in recent years, and advances in technology have made it easier for perpetrators to make 911 calls sound more credible. In May, the FBI formed a national database to monitor such attacks across the country.

In the days before the hoax call against Ms Bellows, numerous other high-profile politicians said swatters had attacked their homes.

Senator Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, said his home in Naples, Florida, was targeted on December 27 while he and his wife were out to dinner. “These criminals have wasted the time and resources of our law enforcement in a sick attempt to terrorize my family,” he said wrote on the social media platform X.

On December 25, a hoax call sent police to the home of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, according to a police report. Mrs. Wu told WBUR that she had been the target of several slaps since becoming mayor in 2021.

“When real emergencies happen and resources are deployed in this way, it is worrying,” Ms Wu told the news channel.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who was expelled from the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus last summer, said she was crushed on Christmas Day, and not for the first time.

“After today, I have been punched eight times, but the FBI can’t figure out who is responsible for the punches.” she wrote on X. “Luckily my local police are way too smart, know me well and know exactly what these swatting calls are.”

In previous cases, the calls have been fatal: in 2019, it was a man from California sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to dozens of hoax calls, including one that led to a Kansas resident being fatally shot by police. A year later, a man in Bethpage, Tennessee, died of a heart attack after police stormed his home following a false emergency call.

Hoax calls to law enforcement have also been weaponized against tech executives, journalists and houses of worship.

Livia Albeck-Ripka reporting contributed.