House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said he and his family were not home at the time
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Kevin Coffey, a retired member of the LAPD and risk expert, provides tips to be safe as a swatting victim.
A top House Republican leader announced he was targeted in a "swatting" situation over the weekend.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said the incident occurred when he and his family were not home.
"Tonight my family and I were the target of a ‘swatting’ incident involving a 911 prank call that wrongly diverted a police presence to my home," Emmer announced Saturday night. "Sadly, this illegal and dangerous scheme is being used nationwide to target elected officials."
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House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer said he was swatted over the weekend. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
"Thankfully, no one was home or injured. I condemn this illegal abuse of police resources. I want to thank the Wright County Sheriff’s Office for their professionalism and support," he said.
Emmer’s office told Fox News Digital that there would not be additional comment on the incident.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Wright County Sheriff’s Office but has not heard back.
There has been a wave of recent "swatting" incidents targeting Republican lawmakers, including on Christmas Day.
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Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was swatted late last year. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)
"Swatting" targets an individual by calling in a false police report at their home, with the goal of eliciting a SWAT team response.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who along with Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., said she was the target of a prank 911 call on Dec. 25 last year, pledged to introduce legislation to crack down on the troubling practice.
"I was just swatted. This is like the 8th time. On Christmas with my family here," Greene wrote in a post on X at the time.
Williams had posted on the site a short while earlier, "Our home was swatted this afternoon. Thanks to the Deputies and Troopers who contacted me before arriving. They left with homemade cookies and spiced nuts! Merry Christmas everyone!"
Sen. Rick Scott said his Naples, Florida, home was swatted a few days after Christmas. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Days later, Greene said a family member of hers was swatted, and she announced she’d be "introducing legislation to make it much easier for law enforcement to arrest and prosecutors to prosecute these criminals."
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., announced the morning after her post that his home had been swatted. Scott said he and his wife were not home at the time.
"Last night, while at dinner with my wife, cowards ‘swatted’ my home in Naples. These criminals wasted the time & resources of our law enforcement in a sick attempt to terrorize my family," Scott wrote on X.
Elizabeth Elkind is a reporter for Fox News Digital focused on Congress as well as the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and politics. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
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