WASHINGTON – White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned the national wave of “smash” calls Tuesday, after someone falsely reported to 911 that there was a fire at the Executive Mansion the day before.
Hoax calls are “creating a danger and a risk for our society,” Jean-Pierre said during a virtual press conference.
The trend “is obviously a concern for us,” he added.
“This is something that obviously the Secret Service is going to monitor very closely as it relates to us specifically in the White House or this administration.”
DC Fire and EMS received a call at 7:03 a.m. Monday stating that the White House was on fire, prompting a rush to the scene, where it was determined approximately 14 minutes later that there was no fire.
President Biden was at Camp David, Maryland, at the time and the Secret Service has not issued a statement about the incident.
The call was the latest directed at a high-profile American politician and is likely to increase efforts to catch the perpetrator.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday condemned the national wave of “swatting.” fake images
Similar calls led to police and other emergency personnel being sent to the homes of judges and politicians from both major parties.
False reports intended to trigger a heavily armed response can be deadly; For example, a false report prompted by a dispute involving the “Call of Duty: WWII” video game resulted in police in Wichita, Kansas, shooting and killing a 28-year-old man. Andrew Finch in 2017.
Republicans defeated last month include Georgia Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, New York Rep. Brandon Williams and Florida Sen. Rick Scott.
Democratic victims include Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, billionaire donor George Soros and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who ordered former President Donald Trump’s name removed from the state’s 2024 ballot last month.
DC Fire and EMS received a false alert at 7:03 a.m. Monday claiming the White House was on fire. Xinhua/Shutterstock
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing Trump’s civil fraud trial, and D.C. federal judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the former president’s criminal trial for trying to reverse his 2020 loss, were also attacked, as did computer repairman John Paul. Mac Issac, who distributed the contents of first son Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop.
The motive behind the anonymous calls is unclear and officials have not described any suspects.
The calls bear similarities to other harassment campaigns, such as the 2016-2017 wave of telephone threats to Jewish institutions.
A teenager living in Israel, himself Jewish, was convicted in 2018 of making about 2,000 such calls and admitted: “I did it out of boredom. It was like a game,” and he claims that he even got paid in Bitcoin for making some threats.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn