Rhode Island Democratic Rep. Seth Magaziner revealed Friday that he was swatted with a fake bomb threat — after similar phony police reports targeted at least five members of Connecticut’s Democratic congressional delegation and at least 10 of President-elect Donald Trump’s high-profile nominees.
“I was recently notified of a bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home. We are safe and there was no evidence of a bomb on the property,” Magaziner tweeted.
“We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the Providence Police Department for their effective response.”
The threats targeting Connecticut Democrats were “all signed with ‘MAGA’,” the acronym of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” mantra, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York added in a separate Friday statement.
Trump’s team, including incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, attorney general-designee Pam Bondi and defense secretary-designee Pete Hegseth, were targeted on Wednesday.
Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, said that the threat targeting his family included “a pro-Palestinian themed message.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who was among the Thanksgiving targets, said the harassment “appears to be part of a coordinated effort involving multiple members of Congress and public figures.”
The FBI is investigating the spate of bogus calls, which thus far have not resulted in injuries to their targets, which can happen during heavily armed police responses.
Asked about the widespread threats, President Biden told reporters after popping out of a Nantucket island bookshop following his family’s Thanksgiving Day celebration that federal agents were already on the case.
“We’re working that hard, the FBI,” Biden, 82, said Friday.
The true motive of the person(s) behind the threats remains unclear.
A similar wave of threats was made in 2016 and 2017 against Jewish Community Centers and other targets, creating the impression of rising antisemitism, but was ultimately determined to be the work of a Jewish Israeli-American teenager, Michael Kadar, who said: “I did it out of boredom.”
That perpetrator attempted to cover his tracks by concealing his IP address and using voice-modifying technology, but ultimately was tracked down by the FBI.
