WASHINGTON — A person called 911 Monday morning to say there was a fire at the White House and someone was trapped inside.
Several units from the District of Columbia Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services responded just after 7 a.m. ET, and authorities determined it was a false alarm.
Although no SWAT teams were dispatched, the “swatting” incidents that have increasingly targeted state officials in recent weeks “are in the same spirit,” said Noah Gray, director of communications for DC Fire & EMS.
The White House false report appeared to be an example of “swatting,” when someone falsely reports a crime in progress to lure police to a particular location.
It is not clear where and who made the call on Monday.
A Secret Service spokesman said any fire would have been detected immediately — and there clearly wasn’t.
President Joe Biden was at Camp David when the 911 call was made. Later, she traveled to Philadelphia to participate in a service event at a food bank for the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
It has been in recent weeks many attacks on high officials including special counsel Jack Smith, US District Judge Tanya ChutkanLike Colorado Supreme Court justices and lawmakers Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Last week, Chutkan and New York judge Arthur Engoron were also targeted Trump’s civil fraud case. Last Thursday, on the day of the trial’s closing arguments, a bomb threat was called at Engoro’s Long Island home. A spokesperson for the county police department said they are investigating it as a “provocative incident.”
FBI created a national online database last year to watch these swatting events.