Former Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor says she and her family were victims of a swatting call overnight that led to police officers pointing rifles at her home.
Swatting entails generating an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretenses. Swatters do this by making phone calls to emergency lines like 911 and falsely reporting a violent emergency situation, such as a shooting or hostage situation. Technology makes it appear that the emergency call is coming from the victim’s phone. Sometimes swatting is done for revenge, sometimes it’s a prank, and it can be deadly.
Taylor subsequently took to Twitter shortly after 2:30 a.m. Tuesday to share a video in which she called the ordeal “traumatizing.”
“My children were woken up from their bed. Trauma doesn’t even begin to explain what just happened at my house. I have it all on video,” Taylor said.
According to Taylor, her local sheriff’s department received an emergency call from a female text-to-voice program reporting that they had shot their husband multiple times and were going to shoot themselves.
The former candidate, who ran against Gov. Brian Kemp and former Sen. David Perdue, lives in Baxley, Georgia with her husband and children ages 14 to 17.
“They came with all their weapons – rifles pointed at my house ready to shoot if they needed to kill me if I opened the door,” Taylor said.
Taylor says her teenage son was the one who told her about the police presence.
“I don’t care what political party you are – this is evil. This is not ok. And I will find out who swatted my house. And I will do everything in my power to bring them to justice,” she said.
In a statement later Tuesday afternoon, Taylor accused the app TextNow of being used to target her and her family
“We will not waver or be afraid. Instead, I am calling for an investigation into TextNow, who is aiding and abetting Demonic Left Wing Extremists who are committing acts of terrorism against Christian Americans,” she wrote.
However, The Appling County Sheriff’s Office would not confirm to the press they responded to such a call.
Despite losing the Republican primary race, Taylor has remained in the spotlight.
