White House GOP contender Nikki Haley is recounting chilling new details of a swatting incident at her South Carolina home.
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Haley — who wasn’t at home at the time — said her parents, aged 87 and 90, and their caregiver were in the house.
"I will tell you that the last thing you want is to see multiple law enforcement officials with guns drawn pointing at my parents and thinking that something happened," the former South Carolina governor told the outlet. "It was an awful situation."
Haley, running against former President Donald Trump in the GOP primaries, also suggested her home had been targeted before with swatting — when a person falsely reports a crime in progress to draw cops to the location.
"It wasn't the first time. I think we've had it happen twice," she said.
Haley added the recent incident "goes to show the chaos that's surrounding our country right now and the fact that these things are happening."
Haley’s home in Kiawah Island, S.C., was also targeted Dec. 30, 2023, when a man claimed he shot a woman and said he was at risk of harming himself at her home.
That swatting prompted authorities to respond to the fake emergency, Craig Harris, Kiawah Island director of public safety, told town officials.
“It was determined to be a hoax. ... Nikki Haley is not on the island and her son is with her,” Harris wrote in an email; neither a suspect nor motive was mentioned.
On Sunday, Haley noted, “I’m not the only one that's happened to," referring to a rise in swatting incidents in recent months targeting political figures and judges that's blamed by some on the contentious political climate amid the 2024 presidential election season.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., wrote in a post on X that a swatting incident occurred at his home Saturday night.
“Tonight my family and I were the target of a 'swatting' incident involving a 911 prank call that wrongly diverted a police presence to my home,” he wrote. “Sadly, this illegal and dangerous scheme is being used nationwide to target elected officials.”
Emmer said no one was home or injured, condemning the “illegal abuse of police resources.”
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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