Senator Asks for DOJ Probe of SWAT-ing of Conservative Bloggers

GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss is taking up the cause of a number of conservative bloggers who claim they have been targeted and harassed with such tactics as 'SWAT-ing' where 911 emergency teams are sent to a blogger's house.

The harassment has allegedly happened in retaliation for what they have written and Chambliss has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate, according to ABC News.

“I am writing with concern regarding recent reports that several members of the community of online political commentators have been targeted with harassing and frightening actions. Any potentially criminal action that incites fear, seeks to silence a dissenting opinion, and collaterally wastes the resources of law enforcement should be given close scrutiny at all levels,” Chambliss wrote, according to the report.

“Regardless of any potential political differences that may exist, threats and intimidation have no place in our national political discourse. Those who choose to enter into that political discourse should not have to worry about potential threats to their or their family’s safety,” Chambliss continued. “While I am certain that local law enforcement is reviewing each of these instances, I am asking you to please look into each of these cases as well to determine if any federal laws may have been violated. Future targets of SWAT-ting, whether engaged in political speech or not, may not be so fortunate as to escape physical harm.”

Among the bloggers complaining is Patric Frey, a deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles and a conservative blogger who writes under the name “Patterico,” who had deputies arrive at his home after receiving a call that someone's wife had been killed. No one had made call to police.

“It’s a phone call that could have gotten me killed,” Frey wrote later.

And Erick Erickson, the editor of the conservative site RedState.com, was also a target. He had written about Frey’s case just a few days before.

But several conservative bloggers say they have an idea about who is resposible: Brett Kimberlin, a man who was convicted of a series of bombings in Speedway, Indiana in the 1980s; he made headlines in 1988 when he claimed to have once sold marijuana to then-vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle.

The group of conservative bloggers organized “Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day” on May 25, during which they urged the blogging community to write about the actions of Kimberlin.

Kimberlin told ABC there was no truth in what they said.