FBI: Swatting 'prank' 911 calls could cost someone their life, and did in Georgia
Marjorie Taylor Greene target of swatting call
We’re taking a closer look at the potential deadly dangers of swatting calls. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene says an innocent woman died in a crash with police officers who were on the way to her Floyd County home. The bomb threat turned out to be a hoax.
ROME, Ga. - A bogus bomb threat at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's home in Rome ended with an innocent bystander losing her life. Law enforcement who responded to the swatting call were involved in the deadly crash.
The Rome Police Department was called to Greene's home, where she has been swatted at least nine times before Monday afternoon after a message with the subject "For Palestine" was received.
"I’ve constructed a pipe bomb which I recently hid in Marjorie Taylor Green’s mailbox," the message read in part. "It is set to go off during the weekend but it would also explode the next time anybody opens the mailbox."
The Rome Police Department's bomb squad responded to a threat at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's home on Monday. (Credit: @RepMTG, X)
The police are required to take these calls seriously, but the bomb squad eventually determined there was not a real threat present.
Retired FBI Supervisory Agent Marc Benjamin said hoaxes like these can have life-changing impacts. In this case, it certainly did.
"Unfortunately, in this situation, what was a good intention by local police department turned out to have adverse or negative consequences," he explained.
A bomb squad officer crashed his personal truck on the way to the call. He hit 66-year-old driver Tammie Picklesimer who didn't make it, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
"I’m heartsick right now. I was just informed that an innocent woman died today in an auto accident involving a member of the Rome Police bomb squad who was responding to the threat at my home," Rep. Greene posted to X on Monday.
Benjamin said the penalty for the culprit of the hoax could be serious.
"In cases where there are deaths, whether accidental or intentional, the term of imprisonment could be for life," he said.
Greene's office said federal authorities determined the threat came from a computer with a Russian IP address.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Dist. 14)
"Subjects could range from children playing games and not realizing how serious the actual effects could be, to other nation states, and foreign actors," Benjamin said.
He explained that phony calls also pull resources from actual critical situations where emergency services are truly needed.
"The officer was responding to protect my life. And now, a woman has lost her life because of this despicable act," Greene posted on social media. "The perpetrator of this crime has committed murder in our small community of Rome, Georgia."
FBI Atlanta Division
Rome police said the FBI is involved in the investigation and has already formed a national database in hopes of preventing future swatting. There's also a Georgia law toughening the penalties for perpetrators.
The Source: This story was reported by FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Rob DiRienzo. It references a previous FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team report and statements provided by the office of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Dist. 14).