Nikki Haley was targeted in the 'Swatting' incident in December, authorities say
A fake report of a shooting at a South Carolina home owned by Nikki Haley sent authorities into a frenzy in late December, but the Republican presidential candidate and former governor of the state was not there at the time. Reuters reported this on Saturday.
The wire service published details of the December 30 “swatting” incident at Ms. Haley's home on Kiawah Island, S.C., an incident intended to provoke a heavily armed law enforcement response. Reuters obtained the information as part of a public records request, which included an email from Craig Harris, the city's public safety director, in which he discussed the incident with local officials.
The email stated that an unknown person called 911 and “claimed to have shot his girlfriend and threatened to harm himself while at Nikki Haley's residence.” The matter remains under investigation, according to the email, which did not discuss a motive for the call.
It took almost a month for details of the incident to emerge, which stands in stark contrast to a series of high-profile “swatting” attempts that targeted politicians and government buildings in late December and early January.
The Haley campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. When reached by Reuters, the campaign declined to comment on the report.
Ms. Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations in the administration of former President Donald J. Trump, is the last serious candidate to vie with him for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. She lost to Trump in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday by 11 percentage points, and they became increasingly conflicted over her decision to stay in the race.
A copy of the public safety director's email was not immediately made available by officials on Kiawah Island, an affluent, gated enclave south of Charleston, S.C., known for its beaches and golf courses. In 2019, This is reported by the Post and Courier that Mrs. Haley had purchased a $2.4 million home on the island.
Mr. Harris, the public safety director, did not respond to a request for information on Saturday.
The day before Ms. Haley was targeted, a man called 911 to say he had broken into the home of Shenna Bellows, the Maine secretary of state and a Democrat. As the state's top election official, she had just disqualified Mr. Trump from the primary vote in Maine for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
According to Maine State Police, no one was at her home when officers arrived.
Less than a week later, the state capitals are in Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi And Montana were evacuated or confined after receiving bomb threats that authorities later described as false and unspecific.
The events contributed to a climate of intimidation and intimidation of government officials, including those overseeing ballot access and voting. Since 2020, election officials have faced increasing threats, exacerbated by rampant conspiracy theories about election fraud.
Other prominent Republicans were also crushed around the same time, including Representative Majorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Senator Rick Scott of Florida.
Ms. Greene, a right-wing provocateur and Trump ally, was home on Christmas morning when a man in New York called a Georgia suicide hotline and claimed he had just shot his girlfriend at Ms. Greene's home and was about to kill himself. , This is reported by the Associated Press.
Two days later, on December 27, it was Mr. Scott's turn.