Historic media reports that the FBI has identified an individual of interest in more than 100 swatting calls, including calls targeting Alejandro Mayorkas, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure and Security Agency Director Jen Easterly and other administration officials Biden.
The person concerned is believed to live in Serbia. They have not yet been charged, but sources say charges will be filed soon. According to some reports, the suspect made the calls against officials during the Christmas holidays.
CBS News Reports,
Sources familiar with the matter reported that the US Secret Service and the FBI participated in the search of the affected person’s home in Serbia and confiscated computers and other electronic devices.
The chief of staff for Congressman Brandon Williams, a New York Republican who was the victim of a Christmas Day crush, confirms that his office has been informed that a “foreign national living abroad” has been located in connection with the incident . Williams was featured in recent “CBS Mornings” and “CBS Evening News” reports about the crush.
According to a previous CBS report, a phone call was made early on Dec. 25 to Republican Rep. Brandon William, a first-term Republican who represents Central New York. The crush was labeled a hoax, but only after it ruined Christmas morning.
Williams, a first-term Republican who represents central New York, said he was the victim of a “swatting” call in the early afternoon of Dec. 25. Williams said someone made a fake phone call to police in Auburn, New York, to trigger a massive police response at his rural home.
Law enforcement, recognizing his address, called ahead to alert Williams that they had received an emergency alert claiming there was a crisis at his home. She said deputies quickly realized the call was a hoax, but only after the crushing incident interrupted her family vacation. Williams suspects it could be the work of critics of some of her political positions or recent statements denouncing Hamas.
According to a CBS News review, at least three members of Congress reported being victims of “crush incidents” during the holiday week. Other members of Congress, from both parties, have also experienced some form of disruption from phony and harassing dunk calls in recent weeks.
Crush is an increasingly common, dangerous and illegal scheme. Callers attempt to pressure police into sending SWAT teams into the homes of public figures, celebrities, or enemies in an attempt to harass victims.
Just last week, other members of Congress also reported being targeted. Hours before the response at Williams’ home, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia announced that she, too, had been a victim of the Christmas Day crush.
On Christmas morning, when Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene used her X account to inform her followers that her home had been destroyed, she revealed that it wasn’t the first time, but this was the eighth incident.
I just got crushed.
This is like the eighth time.
At Christmas with my family here.
My local police are the BIGGEST and shouldn’t be dealing with this.
I appreciate them so much and my family and I are in a joyful mood as we celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ!
– Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) December 25, 2023
CBS News reported that CISA, the FBI, the Secret Service and the Justice Department all declined to comment.