After the US election: bomb threats against Trump’s future government team

The Federal Police FBI is investigating “numerous” bomb threats and false emergency calls aimed at future cabinet members of US President-elect Donald Trump. “We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, encourage the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement,” said an FBI statement that was available to the German Press Agency in Washington.

Trump’s designated government spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that the incidents occurred on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning (local time). The law enforcement authorities then acted quickly to ensure the safety of those affected. “With President Trump as a role model, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us,” Leavitt said. Trump won the presidential election against Democrat Kamala Harris at the beginning of November and will move back into the White House in January.

“Swatting”: Fake emergencies are intended to trigger police action

In addition to the bomb threats, Leavitt and the FBI also spoke of “swatting” incidents. Perpetrators generate fake emergencies and thereby specifically trigger larger police operations. The name is an allusion to the special units of the US police, abbreviated SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics).

Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is set to become Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York, said there was a bomb threat against her home in upstate New York. Stefanik, her husband and their 3-year-old son were on their way home from Washington to Saratoga County when they were informed of the incident. The police responded “immediately with the utmost professionalism”.

Violence against politicians again and again

Particularly during the US election campaign, there was great concern about politically motivated violence in the USA. Incidents such as an assassination attempt and an attempted gun attack on the then Republican candidate Trump further fueled the discussion. Shortly before the 2022 US congressional elections, the husband of Democratic US leader Nancy Pelosi was attacked with a hammer in the couple’s home in San Francisco. But the violent storming of the Capitol by Trump’s supporters after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election also raised questions about the state of political culture in the USA.