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SALT LAKE CITY — When Rusty Bowers drove into his Arizona neighborhood the day after Christmas, he wasn't expecting to see his home surrounded by police officers.
Bowers, former speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, had been targeted by an attempted swatting incident. The Washington Post reported that "an unknown caller had reported that there was a pipe bomb inside and that a woman had been murdered."
Both Bowers and sheriff's deputies told the Post that neither claim from the unknown caller was true, after the deputies searched the home and questioned members of Bowers' family.
Facing political pressure to decertify the 2020 election results, Bowers refused to do so. "I took an oath — for me to take that, to do what you do, would be counter to my oath," Bowers reportedly said, according to The New York Times.
In late June 2022, Bowers testified before the House Jan. 6 committee about the 2020 election, saying that former President Donald Trump, attorney Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Andy Biggs pressured him to illegally overturn the presidential election results in Arizona. Biden won in Arizona and Bowers faced pressure to decertify.
Court documents from Fulton County, Georgia, detail an alleged conversation between Trump and Bowers that occurred on or around Christmas Day 2020. Trump is said to have called Bowers "for the purpose of soliciting, requesting, and importuning Bowers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from Arizona."
At the time, Bowers told him, "I voted for you. I worked for you. I campaigned for you. I just won't do anything illegal for you."
"The incident of swatting, a prank call to emergency services designed to draw a law enforcement response, wasn't just a terrifying moment for Bowers and his family," The Washington Post reported. "It was one of many violent threats and acts of intimidation that have defined the lives of various government officials since the 2020 election."
Swatting is a kind of false emergency report where someone calls emergency services like 911 and makes a fake report about a critical incident such as a murder, a kidnapping or a hostage situation. These calls elicit a response from law enforcement.
When law enforcement dispatchers receive these calls, they respond to them. There's not a solid way of knowing if a call is a swatting call or a genuine call. Swatting diverts resources from areas where they are needed and can be costly — dispatching a tactical team like SWAT costs money.
For a closer look at swatting, see this article.
Bowers is one of several political figures who has faced attempted swattings in recent weeks. Law enforcement sources told NBC News that a 911 caller said that Jack Smith had shot his wife. Smith is a special counsel who is overseeing Trump's prosecution in two federal cases.
"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," NBC News reported. "No arrests have been made in connection with the incident."
Also on Christmas Day, Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, were reportedly swatted, too, according to The Hill.
