Man pleads guilty to swatting spree impacting scores of government officials therecord.media/man-plead…

The Department of Justice said Monday that a 26-year-old Romanian man has pleaded guilty to a string of swatting and bomb threat incidents which impacted dozens of senior government officials.

Starting in late-2023, Thomas Szabo and members of a group he oversaw allegedly swatted or made bomb threats against at least 25 members of Congress or their family members; multiple cabinet-level officials; and at least 13 former or current senior federal law enforcement officials, including heads of multiple law enforcement agencies.

Swatting typically involves calling police to falsely report serious crimes, prompting a SWAT team response. The spree, which allegedly continued through early January 2024, also impacted multiple members of the federal judiciary, at least 27 then-current or former state government officials or their family members, at least four religious institutions and multiple journalists.