WASHINGTON — The White House became the latest target of fake 911 calls Monday morning, when someone falsely claimed a historic building was on fire.
D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson Noah Gray told the Post the call came in at 7:03 a.m.
Crews departed a minute later, and “in coordination with the Secret Service, it was determined that there was no emergency fire.”
Firefighters “returned to duty at 7:16 a.m.,” Gray said, indicating the scare was quickly over.
President Biden was at Camp David in Maryland at the time of the incident.
The White House declined to comment and referred questions to the Secret Service, which did not immediately issue a statement.
In recent weeks, politicians from both parties have been affected by so-called “swatting” incidents. In this incident, a fake call is made to send in a heavily armed response team to terrify the target.
Republican lawmakers targeted by the swad include Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose home was raided by authorities on Christmas Day after a suicide hotline call, and New York Rep. Brandon Williams. , and Florida Sen. Rick Scott.
Prominent Democrats targeted include Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and left-wing billionaire George Soros, who gained national attention last month for removing former President Donald Trump from his state's 2024 ballot. This includes Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows.
Other prominent critics of Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump have also been targeted.
Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University who has frequently commented on corruption allegations against the Biden family, was reportedly involved in a fake shooting at his home, as was John Paul Mac Isaac, a computer repairman. He said he was targeted.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the civil fraud trial against Trump, was called out for a fake bomb threat in a speech last week, while a D.C. federal judge Tanya Chutkanwho is overseeing President Trump's criminal trial as he sought to overturn his 2020 loss, was reported to have had a fake shooting at her home.
Officials have not said who they suspect is behind the false report.
In 2016 and 2017, about 2,000 threatening phone calls, including bomb threats, were made to Jewish community centers and other U.S. targets, giving the perception that anti-Semitism was on the rise and that critics blamed on Trump. He blamed it on the president.
Israeli-American teens was convicted of a crime When I made that call in 2018, I said, It was like a game,'' he said, claiming he made $240,000 in Bitcoin in the process.
