Slotkin, Rogers family ‘swatting’ draw bipartisan rebuke, call for change

• U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, now the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, was targeted in ‘swatting’ incident on Thursday
• Police went to Slotkin’s Holly residence while she wasn’t home in response to what was later deemed a false threat 
• Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican running against Slotkin for Senate, said some of his family members were also swatted Friday

False threats that prompted police responses at the personal home of Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Elissa Slotkin and the family of Republican nominee Mike Rogers drew bipartisan condemnation and a call for change. 

They were among the latest high-profile targets of “swatting,” a criminal prank where false tips are reported to law enforcement in an effort to attract a large police presence to a person’s home address. 

Police visited Slotkin’s home in Holly on Thursday evening based on an email sent to a local elected official, Slotkin spokesperson Lynsey Mukomel told Bridge Michigan on Friday. Slotkin, who currently serves in the U.S. House, was not home at the time.

"This is the latest in a disturbing trend of swatting incidents targeting members of Congress,” Mukomel said in a statement. Slotkin, she added, is “deeply grateful for the swift and professional response by law enforcement to this unfortunate incident, and that U.S. Capitol Police will be following up to investigate and hopefully hold accountable those responsible."

A Michigan State Police spokesperson confirmed that police responded to Slotkin’s residence and that the tip prompting the visit was deemed false. The spokesperson did not provide additional information about the nature of the initial outreach.  

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Rogers, a former member of Congress now running against Slotkin, called the incident “horrific.” On Friday, a spokesperson said Rogers’ family members in Livingston County were subject to a similar threat.

The incidents are “a clear example of the deeply concerning trend of political violence that has quickly become the norm” and cannot be tolerated, Chris Gustafson said in a statement. 

Rogers was also subject to swatting while in Congress. In 2013, police were dispatched to Rogers’ residence based on a false murder report. Police arrived at an empty house, as Rogers was in Washington, D.C. at the time of the call.

“As a former FBI agent I can tell you that diverting law enforcement toward fake crimes is dangerous and can lead to very bad outcomes,” Rogers wrote on social media after the Slotkin incident. 

Swatting has grown increasingly common in recent years, with celebrities, politicians and other prominent officials among those who have been targeted by the hoax calls.

A PBS Newshour investigation found more than three dozen members of Congress had been targeted since Christmas 2023, as well as former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and special counsel Jack Smith. 

The term comes from the motivation by many callers to elicit a SWAT team response by reporting a potentially violent scenario like a murder, hostage situation or bomb threat, according to the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International. 

Michigan law prohibits false reports of crime. A conviction for falsely reporting a crime or other emergency is generally a misdemeanor offense, but it can become a felony if the false report results in injury.

Some states have gone further in an attempt to deter swatting. In July, a new law in Georgia went into effect making a swatting call involving a residence, government building or court a felony, even if it’s the perpetrator’s first offense. 

In Congress, Republican U.S. Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama introduced legislation this year that if passed would add stricter penalties for swatting to the federal criminal hoax statute.

In Michigan, candidates must publicly disclose their home address to qualify for the ballot, which some have argued leaves them vulnerable to threats. 

Nasser Beydoun, a Dearborn business executive who sought the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, attempted a workaround to this rule by listing a post office box rather than a street address. 

The move got him disqualified from the ballot, though he told the Board of State Canvassers in May that he wasn’t trying to be intentionally deceptive.

“With today’s political environment … you want everybody in the state to know where you live?” Beydoun said at the time.

On Friday, Republican former state Rep. Peter Meijer also condemned what happened to Slotkin, further arguing that the troubling trend warrants a review of what Michigan candidates are legally required to disclose publicly. 

“It’s important to confirm candidate residency requirements, but given threats to public officials there has to be a better way to balance this need with privacy and security concerns,” Meijer wrote on social media.