Police were dispatched toward Smith's residence but were called off when they learned it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe.

Police were dispatched toward Smith’s residence but were called off when they learned it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the prosecution of former President Donald Trump in two federal cases, was the target of an attempted swatting at his Maryland residence on Christmas Day.

According to two law enforcement sources, someone called 911 and said that Smith had shot his wife at the address where Smith lives.

Montgomery County Police dispatched units toward the home but were called off when the Deputy U.S. Marshals protecting Smith and his family told police that it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

  • MagicShel@programming.dev
    5·
    11 months ago

    At a minimum tell the responding officers that the call was anonymous and hasn’t been verified. I don’t know beyond that. Remove anonymity but also seal the records automatically to be unsealed only if the call itself is a crime? But we’ve had a long time to deal with this and think about solutions, and it’s hard to believe we’ve not come up with a single way to address the issue.

      • RaoulDook@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        11 months ago

        It actually could be very hard to find the perpetrator with overseas VPNs and VOIP phone numbers that can be spoofed.

          • RaoulDook@lemmy.worldEnglish
            52·
            11 months ago

            Dude I knew about that stuff before most people in the world, 20 years ago.

            VPNs can still make users anonymous, regardless of all the above. They are not cracking strong encryption in those tunnels, and overseas VPN providers can provide anonymizing VPN services that they won’t be able to trace. There may actually be nothing they can do about it.