A 911 hoax call sent a SWAT team to the home of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student activist David Hogg Tuesday morning, claiming a person with a gun was barricaded inside.
Hogg, 18, a survivor of a school shooting that took 17 lives in February, has become the face and voice of a renewed push for gun control by the school’s students that has provoked a vicious backlash from the NRA, rightwing gun nuts, and even some Republican politicians.
There has been some counter-backlash: Rightwing talk-show host Laura Ingraham faced an advertiser boycott after taunting Hogg on air, and a Maine small-town mayor is facing a recall election for his personal attacks against Hogg.
“Swatting,” as hoax reporting of criminal activity to law enforcement is known, is a form of malicious harassment that’s been on the rise recently. It’s both illegal and dangerous. In December 2017, a Kansas man was killed by police at his home as a result of a “swatting” prank that went awry; three people were arrested, who now face federal felony charges and could get life in prison.
In the Hogg incident, no one was home, nor was anyone injured. Police are investigating the source of the hoax call. Read story here.
Photo: David Hogg