COO Gabe Sterling joins list of Georgia lawmakers targeted by swatting calls
Another high-ranking Georgia official target of swatting
Another series of threats on Wednesday targeting Georgia’s lawmakers. A top official with the Secretary of State’s office was swatted after police evacuated the state Capitol Wednesday morning due to a bomb threat. There are growing concerns about threats of political violence in the New Year.
Yet another swatting targeting Georgia lawmakers has been reported.
Wednesday morning, the State Capitol was evacuated due to a bomb threat. By the evening, Gabe Sterling, the Chief Operating Officer in the office of the Georgia Secretary of State, announced he had been swatted.
He joins the list of both Republican and Democratic Georgia legislators who were targeted over the holidays.
The FBI is investigating the threats, but so far, none of them have been credible.
"Unfortunately, [this is] the kind of thing we can expect moving forward into the 2024 election cycle," Sterling told FOX 5's Rob DiRienzo over the phone.
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Multiple state capitols evacuated due to bomb threats, including Georgia's capitol building
The opening of the Georgia State Capitol was delayed on Wednesday morning due to a bomb threat.
The Georgia State Capitol was just one of at least nine state building across the country that were shut down by similar bomb threats.
An email was sent out warning officials that multiple bombs would detonate in just a few hours.
Capitol police swept the building before giving the all-clear under the gold dome in Downtown Atlanta just before 9 a.m.
On X, Sterling tweeted that someone called 911 stating a drug deal gone bad turned into a shooting at his home.
"We will not be intimidated by these types of items. We can’t allow them to divide us further," Sterling said, while adding that he would remain on high-alert for his own safety. "This could be a lead up to another larger-scale actual attack, where they could’ve done this just to see how did they react, what did they do, what resources did they deploy."
ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 06: Gabriel Sterling, Voting Systems Manager for the Georgia Secretary of States office, answers questions during a press conference on the status of ballot counting on November 6, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. The 2020 presidentia
Senators John Albers (R-Alpharetta), Kim Jackson (D-Pine Lake), Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta) and Clint Dixon (R-Buford) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene were also targeted on the holiday talks began of making swatting a felony.
"I can be all brave and say, ‘Yeah, I’m perfectly fine all the time.’ I don’t know. At the height of these things, if there was a knock on my door I wasn’t expecting I jumped a little more than I probably should’ve," Sterling said.
Federal and state law enforcement say they are still working to track down the culprit, or culprits. So far, there has been no word of any arrests.