Several Democratic lawmakers from Connecticut on Thursday reported bomb threats, one day after members of key senior staff picks of President-elect Donald Trump’s reported they were targeted by threats and “swatting.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, Rep John Larson and Rep. Jim Himes — all Democrats — issued statements on Thursday that their homes were subject to bomb threats. Murphy’s office said the threats appeared to be “part of a coordinated effort involving multiple members of Congress and public figures.”
The Associated Press reported that the Norwich home of another Democrat, Rep. Joe Courtney, was the subject of a bomb threat while his wife and children were home.
Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Wednesday that several of Trump’s planned nominees had been targeted with swatting or bomb threats.
Reps. Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin, tapped to be U.N. ambassador and EPA administrator respectively, both said they were targeted, and the NYPD responded to a threat at the home of Howard Lutnick, tapped to be Commerce Secretary. Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, and Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general whom Trump has chosen to be the next U.S. attorney general, were targeted in this wave of attacks, according to a senior law enforcement official.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s original pick to be Attorney General who later withdrew his name from consideration, also reported being targeted.
“Swatting” is the action of falsely calling emergency services in an effort to send armed police officers to a specific address or target in a threatening way. Bomb threats can represent a form of swatting — misleading authorities to believe that a serious threat or crime is underway to prompt an urgent response from police. And in rare cases, they’ve led to fatal outcomes.
The Department of Homeland Security warns that the criminal trend — a “daily occurrence” that often occurs in clusters — wastes police and first responder resources, plus can lead to dangerous altercations between law enforcement officers. Mark Herring of Tennessee suffered a fatal heart attack in 2021 after he was targeted, while a Kansas man was shot dead by police in 2017 who responded to his home.
Though swatting may lead to felony charges and can be punishable by years behind bars, suspects are often tricky to track. Offenders routinely employ caller ID spoofing, social engineering tactics, voice masking technology, and even tactics teletypewriter (TTY) technology (a phone system designed for people who have hearing or speech impairments) to mask their identity or pose as a victim.
