According to law enforcement officials, federal agents have identified a person of interest in more than 100 swatting calls, including those directed at Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, and Security Agency Director Jen Easterly, and other senior Biden administration officials.
Officials believe the person of interest lives in Serbia; charges have not yet been filed, but sources say they may be filed soon. According to sources, the person of interest is accused of making phone calls to officials during the Christmas holidays.
Swatting is a dangerous and unlawful technique in which people seek to annoy or threaten others by placing bogus emergency calls, causing police to dispatch SWAT teams to the residences of public figures, celebrities, or personal foes.
According to sources familiar with the case, the US Secret Service and the FBI conducted a search of the person of interest’s apartment in Serbia and seized computers and other electronics.
The chief of staff for Rep. Brandon Williams, a New York Republican who was swatted on Christmas Day, confirmed that his office has been alerted that a “foreign national living overseas” has been identified in connection with the event. Williams was featured in recent “CBS Mornings” and “CBS Evening News” stories about swatting.
The US Secret Service, the Justice Department, the FBI, and CISA all declined to comment.
