A.G. Gancarski
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is giving more insight into a so-called swatting call dispatched to his house in Naples last month, saying that if it happened to him, it could happen to others.
“I hope to God that nobody gets hurt. But that’s their whole goal, that somebody gets shot,” Scott said.
During a Newsmax interview, Florida’s junior Senator said the pranksters wanted him to fire on responding law enforcement officers.
“The whole goal, like what they did to me, is that I would have my weapons ready and I would be afraid that somebody broke into my house and I would shoot at the police, and they would shoot at me. That was their whole goal,” Scott said.
Naples Police spokesman Lt. Bryan McGinn confirmed police dispatch received a 911 call on Dec. 27 at 9:02 p.m. claiming a shooting occurred. Police confirmed the alleged incident occurred at a home on the street where Scott lives.
An incident report shows a caller claimed to be a resident of the home. The caller identified himself as “Jamal” and said that he “shot his wife with an AR-15 because she was sleeping with another dude.” The caller also claimed to be holding his wife’s boyfriend, “Michael,” hostage and that he would blow up the house with a pipe bomb if he weren’t given $10,000.
Scott has teamed up with U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville to introduce the Preserving Safe Communities by Ending Swatting Act. That bill, backed by the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) and the National Sheriffs’ Association, could put swatters in prison for 20 years if someone is hurt because of their actions.
The Senator contends that swatting may not be taken as seriously as it should be since Republicans don’t control the Executive Branch.
“The way I look at this is,” Scott said, “if it was happening to a bunch of Democrats, I think they would put a lot more effort into it.”
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Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
5 comments
Larry Gillis, Libertarian
January 24, 2024 at 10:47 am
Swatting is illegitimate, a tactic for losers. It is a waste of resources and is dangerous to everyone involved. Libertarians embrace the NAP (Non Aggression Principle).
Mark
January 24, 2024 at 11:00 am
That’s nice, Larry. “Libertarians” don’t hold the ground on non-aggression. Most sane people do. Swatting has been going on for years. As usual, it took something to personally happen to The Crypt Keeper for him to acknowledge it. Of course, he then made it partisan. Then again, if you want to talk about “losers” you may want to get into people who’s main identity is some form of politics. Also, as a “libertarian” how do you fell about The Crypt Keeper suckling at the government teat his whole life…except for that brief time he was robbing Medicare blind (allegedly)?
Dont Say FLA
January 24, 2024 at 12:03 pm
If it weren’t routine these days for the cops to bust down the doors of private residences, there would be no such thing as swatting.
When will we finally stop the true outrage, the cops kicking in the doors of the homes of supposedly constitutionally protected private citizens?
MH/Duuuval
January 24, 2024 at 8:23 pm
9 PM, isn’t that kind of early for the police to kick in someone’s door, Rick?
The police should go to Rick’s house at 3 AM with six armed deputies, as they did to serve a warrant on that nefarious Black female and former felon who voted in 2020 and 2022 — believing she had lawfully registered to vote. (Her case was ultimately thrown out in court.)
MH/Duuuval
January 25, 2024 at 9:29 am
I neglected to add that the woman in question was 69 — and no doubt a real threat to six armed deputies at 3 AM.
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