Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), subcommittee chairman of the U.S. House Oversight Committee's federal law enforcement panel, has announced an investigation into the increasing number of swatting incidents targeting conservatives.
As part of the congressional probe, his subcommittee is seeking information from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on what steps they're taking to thoroughly investigate these incidents of political violence and bring the culprits to justice, according to a press release.
In a letter Thursday addressed to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, the congressman requested "a staff-level briefing on the actions being taken to investigate these politically motivated attacks and ensure those responsible are held accountable."
Last week, Patel said his agency is investigating the alarming rise in swatting attacks and warned against this "dangerous trend."
Swatting is when someone calls in a hoax emergency service report, sending police, sometimes armed response units, to a political opponent's home, usually late at night.
Multiple conservative media figures have been the victims of swatting calls in recent days, including right-wing radio show host Joe Pagliarulo, conservative influencer Gunther Eagleman, and Chase Geiser of Infowars.
Pagliarulo said on his show that he was targeted in the early morning hours of March 12 and played security footage capturing a heavily armed law enforcement officer responding to a fake report of a domestic disturbance. At first unaware that the armed man on his property was police, Pagliarulo said he even considered confronting him with his own firearms, possibly resulting in a "shootout."
"If I would have grabbed my AR-15 and walked out the front door—or my pistol—and walked out the front door, I would have been dead in my doorway," Pagliarulo said. "Had I taken any other action, I might have been killed in my house that night. And you start to think maybe that's the tactic."
Yes -- my family and I were swatted. This is how it went down. Including the video I saw on my front door camera at 2:35am. How would you have reacted?
— Joe Pags Pagliarulo (@JoeTalkShow) March 14, 2025
This has to stop! pic.twitter.com/eJ0aLguf3Q
On X, Eagleman said he, too, was swatted after someone called in a fake hostage situation. Geiser, posting footage of an armed response unit at his house, said he had been swatted on March 12 for the second time in 12 hours.
"6 to 8 police officers used a PA system to call me by name and order me to walk out of my house," Geiser said. "I was handcuffed in the middle of the street, presumably at gunpoint though I couldn't tell because of the light being shined on my face."
Swatted for a second time in 12 hours. Here’s the video.
— Chase Geiser (@realchasegeiser) March 12, 2025
Long live InfoWars. pic.twitter.com/H0nIt8NjcC
Catturd, a popular pro-Trump persona, wrote Friday that he was "just swatted again for the fourth time" at his home. "My last two swatters are sitting in prison right now, this new one will be joining them soon."
Investigative journalist Nick Sortor said his relatives were swatted after authorities received a call falsely claiming his father was planning to kill their entire family. A dozen cops, intervening with deadly force, tried to kick in his dad's door, guns pointed. "This is nothing short of attempted murder," Sortor said. "They wanted the police to kill my father."
Shawn Farash, a Tennessee-based comedian known as "Captain Deplorable" on social media, said police were called to his house after receiving a report that somebody was murdered there and that an individual was planning to carry out "suicide by cop."
At least 10 people reported similar swatting incidents on Thursday, an FBI official told The Daily Mail.
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