Police were dispatched toward Smith’s residence but were called off when they learned it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the prosecution of former President Donald Trump in two federal cases, was the target of an attempted swatting at his Maryland residence on Christmas Day.

According to two law enforcement sources, someone called 911 and said that Smith had shot his wife at the address where Smith lives.

Montgomery County Police dispatched units toward the home but were called off when the Deputy U.S. Marshals protecting Smith and his family told police that it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

  • TreeGhost@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    Its crazy to me that people think its the telephone companies that need more regulations here and not the police. SWAT teams shouldn’t be going in guns blazing on anonymous calls and any injury or death should be solely their responsibility. By all means try to prosecute the people calling in the first case for misuse of emergency services, if you can identify them, but we all know who pulled the fucking trigger. Police can’t both get to decide that they get to selectively enforce the law and then take no responsibility when the injure or kill innocent people.

    • SuperDuper@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Police can’t both get to decide that they get to selectively enforce the law and then take no responsibility when the injure or kill innocent people.

      Supreme Extreme Court: That’s where your wrong, bucko.

      • Raiderkev@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        You’d be surprised. Someone swatted my neighbor, and they actually made an arrest. I don’t know if they will have enough evidence to convict, but it was good to see. It was traumatizing for my neighbor. She’s an 80 year old woman who lives with her son. I would assume the guy who did it did so from a spoofed number, but they still managed to track someone down.

        I have no idea why they were even targeted, and neither did they. My money was on someone trying to swat a different neighbor who I always hear loudly talking shit while gaming. He’s always yelling loud enough that I can hear it next door. My thought is they were after him and they just screwed up the address and hit the house next door.

      • TreeGhost@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        I think there will always be ways to make anonymous calls regardless of regulations, especially since telephone systems are on the internet, so are vulnerable to hacking and exploits. But if police can be held responsible for the death and injury they cause, then maybe they will stop going in guns blazing and remove the incentive for swatting in the first place.

  • TragicNotCute@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    The scary thing is the only reason he was safe and didn’t get swatted is because he already had armed guards protecting him.

  • BeautifulMind ♾️@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    It’s wild to me that when the phone companies need to bill for a phone call they know exactly who to bill for it, but when it’s something like this everyone is helpless because you can’t track these things

  • ghostdoggtv@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I’ve changed my mind about the death penalty. What is swatting if not an attempt to have someone executed by the state?

  • MagicShel@programming.dev
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    11 months ago

    No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

    This shit needs to change. This has been a problem for too many years now.

    • n2burns@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      I think it’s awful, but how do you suggest making changes? The only thing I can think of is tracking 9-1-1 calls, but doing more of that discourages people from anonymously calling in emergencies, which could lead to more deaths.

      • MagicShel@programming.dev
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        11 months ago

        At a minimum tell the responding officers that the call was anonymous and hasn’t been verified. I don’t know beyond that. Remove anonymity but also seal the records automatically to be unsealed only if the call itself is a crime? But we’ve had a long time to deal with this and think about solutions, and it’s hard to believe we’ve not come up with a single way to address the issue.

  • Ook the Librarian@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    So I don’t want to bother finding a place to put this where anyone who would do this would see it. I’ll just rant here.

    Hey jackass. Let’s consider the events of christmas day. Smith family sits safely at home. There is no mention of Jack even being informed.

    Meanwhile, a mother is having an over-text conversation with her cop husband about how they are missing each other on Christmas Day. Then the cop texts “got to run. another guy with a gun.”

    Now the cop’s wife is at home holding her children with the routine and traumatic thought of “will my children see their dad again?”.

    Summing up. Smith family fine. Cop family scared. You know a certain percentage of cops’ wives are very sympathetic individuals.

      • Ook the Librarian@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Oh, is that what comes up when you google “percent of cop’s wife’s”? Oops, I guess shouldn’t have said that. ;)

        And I know I getting downvoted for being sympathetic to a family. But the person who sent the swat team presumably would care about them.

      • Ook the Librarian@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        You folks have no theory of mind. All I’m saying is that the bootlicker with the great idea of trying ruin the Smiths’ Christmas ended up being at best friendly fire in a completely foreseeable way. The swatter is just having cops fight cops.

        But stellar point about choosing your own family. Go home to your mom; tell her you’re brilliant.

          • Ook the Librarian@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago
            1. I brought up your mother because they were a person in your life you did not choose. Pick a different mother. You can’t? That’s my point. I hope you had a great one. If you love you mom, I am sorry you lost her. But you had a lot of victim blaming in your small comment.

            2. I don’t know the relevance. You know I made up that cop story? Also, there is a strange assumption people make the the main character of a story is supposed to be a good guy. He not. I don’t care about him. My point was the swatter is dumbass whose plan had no hope of even bothering their target but could cause issues for their blue team.

            Have you talked to many domestic violence survivors? Leaving is not simple. The kids are sympathetic too. I won’t let my hate of MAGA blur that. Targeting families is crime even in war. I won’t do it.

            1. Good. It is hard, but good. I wish it weren’t this way. I sorry you had some family members wrapped up in that. This is off-topic, but have you had any luck convincing any of them? I like to hear rhetoric that has worked.