ATLANTA — A Romanian man has pleaded guilty to making dozens of “swatting” calls against state and federal officials in late 2023, including at least six Georgia lawmakers.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 26-year-old Thomas Szabo pleaded guilty to being the leader of a conspiracy group that targeted government buildings, churches and homes with “swatting” calls and bomb threats.
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On Christmas Day 2023 and in the days after, six Georgia lawmakers reported having police falsely sent to their homes, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Greene posted on social media that this was her eighth time being “swatted.”
Police in Rome, where the congresswoman lives, told Channel 2 Action News that a man in New York called the Georgia suicide hotline claiming to have shot his girlfriend at Greene’s home and was going to kill himself next. That turned out to be false.
Republican state Senators John Albers, Clinton Dixon and Kay Kirkpatrick, as well as Democratic state Senator Kim Jackson also say they were targeted.
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“This defendant’s targeted and ruthless behavior put countless people in danger, including law enforcement, public officials, and ordinary citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Federal prosecutors say that between Christmas Eve 2023 and early January 2024, Szabo and members of his group made “swatting” calls against:
- At least 25 Members of Congress and their families
- At least six current and former U.S. Executive Branch officials
- At least 13 current and former senior federal law enforcement officials
- At least 27 current and former state government officials and their families
- At least four religious institutions
- Multiple members of the federal judiciary
- Multiple members of the media
During that period, prosecutors say one of the group’s members bragged to Szabo about doing more than 25 “swattings” in one day and wasting $500,000 of taxpayers’ money.
Szabo was extradited from Romania in November. He is set to be sentenced on Oct. 23.
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