A fake emergency call to police led to a police officer being arrested Friday night, a day after Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause. I had to be dispatched to my home.
She became the latest elected politician to become the target of swatting, which involves making prank calls to emergency services with the aim of causing large scale emergency response personnel, including SWAT teams, to show up at residences.
Bellows was not home at the time of the swatting call, but responding officers found nothing suspicious.
The Maine Department of Public Safety has not released a motive for the swatting, but Bellows said there was no doubt it was due to his decision to remove Trump from the ballot.
The swatting attempt came after her home address was posted on social media by a conservative activist. “And this post was posted with anger and violent intent by people who have been sending threatening communications against me, my family, and my office,” she wrote. he told The Associated Press by phone Saturday.
According to the Maine Department of Public Safety, emergency services were called by an unknown man who had broken into a home in Manchester.
The address the man gave him was Bellows’ home. Ms. Bellows and her husband were away on a weekend vacation. Maine State Police responded to the Department of Public Safety’s statement by saying it was ultimately determined to be a domestic violence call.
Police searched the exterior of the home at Bellows’ request and then looked inside. Nothing suspicious was found, and police are continuing to investigate.
“Maine State Police, in collaboration with our law enforcement partners, is paying special attention to all appropriate locations,” the public safety statement said.
Bellows said the intimidation factor does not work. “This is what’s different about what I do. I’m doing my job to protect the Constitution, the rule of law.”
Other prominent politicians targeted in swatting calls include Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Dave of Ohio. -Includes Attorney General Yost.
Bellows said she, her family and her employees have been threatened since her decision to remove Trump from the ballot. At least one Republican lawmaker in Maine is calling for her impeachment.
Bellows, who worked in civil rights before becoming secretary of state, said: “Not only have there been threatening communications, but dehumanizing and false images have been posted online, even attributed to me. There were also fake text threads.”
“And I’ve learned in my work that dehumanizing people is the first step in creating an environment that is conducive to aggression and violence against them,” she said. “It is extremely dangerous that the rhetoric has escalated to the point where it dehumanizes me and threatens me, my loved ones, and the people who work for me.”
She said Maine people have a strong tradition of disagreement on important issues without violence.
“I think it’s really important for everyone to tone down the rhetoric and remember the values that make our Democratic Republic and here in Maine, our state, great,” she said.
The Trump campaign announced it would appeal Bellows’ decision to state court in Maine, but Bellows withheld his decision until the court rules on the case.
Colorado’s Supreme Court removed Trump from the state’s ballot earlier this month, a decision that also ruled against the president under the Insurrection Clause, a Civil War-era provision that bars “persons engaged in insurrection.” The ban was put on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to ban it. ” from the retention office.
