CNN
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State police say they responded to a swatting name on the dwelling of Maine State Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on Friday night time, a day after she removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 major poll.
Police say no residents have been on the Manchester dwelling when the incident occurred round 8:25 p.m. Maine State Cops “carried out an exterior examine of the residence and an inside sweep” of Bellows’ dwelling at her request however didn’t find something suspicious, in line with an announcement launched Saturday.
Swatting is a prank name made to authorities with the aim of luring them to a location – often a house – the place they’re led to imagine a criminal offense has been dedicated or is in progress. This leads to a forceful response from native police or SWAT groups, which haven’t any approach of figuring out the decision is a hoax.
Bellows, a Democrat, on Thursday eliminated Trump from Maine’s 2024 major poll, in a decision based mostly on the 14th Modification’s “insurrectionist ban.” Bellows put her determination on maintain till Maine’s Superior Courtroom points a ruling. State legislation lays out timelines for that courtroom and, if the choice is appealed, for the state Supreme Courtroom to behave by the top of January.
Bellows instructed CNN on Friday that her workplace has obtained threats since her determination.
“Now we have obtained threatening communications,” she instructed CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Scenario Room.”
“I definitely fear in regards to the security of folks that I really like, individuals round me, and other people charged with defending me and dealing alongside me,” she added. “That being stated, we’re a nation of legal guidelines, and that’s what’s actually vital. So, I’ve been laser-focused on that obligation to uphold the Structure.”
Bellows acknowledged the swatting name in a Facebook post, saying she and her husband, Brandon, are protected and weren’t dwelling on Friday when “threats escalated” and their dwelling handle was posted on-line.
The secretary of state known as the swatting of her dwelling and the “continuous threatening communications” that her colleagues have been receiving since Friday unacceptable.
“It’s designed to scare not solely me but additionally others into silence, to ship a message,” she wrote.
Maine State Police are investigating the swatting incident at Bellows’ dwelling at the side of different legislation enforcement companies.
Friday’s incident marks the most recent swatting name on an elected official. Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott’s Naples dwelling was swatted Wednesday night time, police stated. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s dwelling in Rome, Georgia, was swatted on Christmas Day, officers stated.
Bellows’ determination made Maine the second state to disqualify Trump from workplace, after the Colorado Supreme Courtroom earlier this month handed down its own ruling that eliminated him from the poll. Different challenges are nonetheless pending, together with in Oregon, because the 2024 major cycle approaches.
CNN’s Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.