On Wednesday evening, Governor Rick Scott was enjoying dinner with his wife when an anonymous call initiated a prank that led police to his Naples home. This practice is known as swatting and is meant to draw law enforcement resources such as SWAT teams closer.
Bryan McGinn of Naples Police confirmed the incident, reporting officers received a call about gunfire at Scott?s home on Gordon Drive in Naples. Scott posted to X, previously Twitter, that his home had also been struck on Christmas Day by officers.
What Happened?
After the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Scott pledged his efforts towards improving gun and school safety. After receiving criticism for not attending a CNN town hall event, he promised $450 million in school security funding while supporting legislation banning assault weapons and increasing age requirements to purchase rifles from 21 to 22.
Scott used his first year as governor to reduce state budgets, sell off aging Air Force One aircraft and implement strict drug testing policies for state employees as a cost-cutting measure, and fire thousands of workers, infuriating legislators. His aloof style earned him late-night talk show jokes; and awkward meetings with Spain’s king earned widespread acclaim; yet, poll numbers began increasing steadily thanks to his focus on turning around the economy while simultaneously backing Obamacare’s limited version of Medicaid expansion after initially rejecting it and opposing government involvement in health care policy decisions.
Police Arrived
Wednesday evening, police officers were dispatched to the Scotts’ home after receiving a suspicious 911 call. Swatting is a popular form of intimidation which involves intentionally inducing emergency services into visiting someone’s home to startle or harass them, often used as an attempt at startle tactics or harassment.
Scott reported being out to dinner when Naples police and firefighters showed up to his home and thanked them for their hard work, while also thanking local community organizations like Naples firefighters and police officers for doing an exceptional job in Naples.
He reported that both of his daughters? homes had also been swatted. On Thursday, Scott wrote in his Twitter feed that criminals attempted to “terrorize” his family, as well as being swatted himself on Christmas Day; other U.S. Reps Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia and Brandon Williams from New York also claimed they had been targeted – diverting resources away from schools and communities and diverting attention away from real crimes or emergencies that require intervention.
Searches
“Jamal” told police he was holding hostages at home and would blow up unless he received $10,000 from someone. Additionally, he claimed to have a pipe bomb which could detonate at any moment if police came near it.
Police responded quickly by sending officers to the home, where a private security guard from IPS was present and advised them that no issues existed at their residence. Police searched around its perimeter for signs of forced entry before contacting Scott to obtain permission to search inside.
Swatting is a form of electronic harassment in which users lure authorities like SWAT teams to an area by making false emergency calls. This practice has the potential to drain significant resources from schools while diverting law enforcement attention away from genuine emergencies. Furthermore, the practice can have deadly results; even individuals have died due to this practice.
Conclusions
Recently, similar incidents have taken place at the homes of other US lawmakers. On Christmas Day alone, police responded to an anonymous caller reporting his girlfriend had been shot; an incident similar to this had already taken place at Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Rome, Georgia home and reported by callers prior. Recently, however, the FBI has begun collecting such reports into an online database for analysis and further action taken when necessary.
“Jamal” reported calling police and alleging he shot Scott while she and he were out for dinner in Naples. According to WINK, police arrived within 15 minutes after receiving this non-emergency 911 line call and met security at Scott’s home who informed them there had been no shooting and claimed it was all part of an elaborate hoax plot.
Scott blamed “cowards” for the incident on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), and disclosed an investigation is in progress; additionally, he informed the FBI.