Nikki Haley Was Swatted a Second Time

UPDATE Jan 29, 2024 6:40 PM CST

Nikki Haley was the subject of a second hoax call to 911, two days after the one she confirmed Sunday. A caller told the dispatcher on Jan. 1 that Haley had shot her daughter, who was lying in a pool of blood, per Reuters, which has seen the incident report. The caller, identified as "Rose," claimed to be on the phone with Haley, who was threatening to shoot herself. A Charleston County sheriff's deputy went to Haley's home, then reported that an unidentified woman matching the Republican presidential candidate's description convinced the deputy that the call was a hoax.

Jan 28, 2024 10:15 AM CST

Nikki Haley said Sunday that a false report of a shooting at her home in South Carolina resulted in officers responding with "guns drawn" at her parents. Law enforcement officials were dispatched to the home in the town of Kiawah Island on Dec. 30 after the hoax call, in which records show someone phoned 911 and "claimed to have shot his girlfriend and threatened to harm himself," Reuters reports. Haley was away at the time, but she said in an appearance on Meet the Press that her parents and a caregiver were there.

"I will tell you that the last thing you want is to see multiple law enforcement officials with guns drawn pointing at my parents and thinking that something happened," the Republican presidential candidate said, per USA Today. "It is an awful situation." Her parents are 87 and 90 years old, Haley said. Law enforcement officials consider swatting, which involves prank-calling emergency services to report some sort of criminal or violent threat in an effort to elicit a substantial law enforcement response, a type of intimidation.

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The FBI did not comment on the Haley case but has said the calls "are dangerous to first responders and to the victims" and take resources away from genuine emergencies. Targets have included opponents of Donald Trump, judges, and at least one prosecutor, as well as a Trump ally, GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. A false report of a fire at the White House was made this month. Republican Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Rick Scott have drafted legislation to stiffen federal penalties for swatting, per the Hill. (More Nikki Haley stories.)