Police Respond to ‘Swatting’ Attempt at Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Home

Police in Fairfax County, Va., responded to a “swatting” attempt at the home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Wednesday evening, authorities have confirmed to National Review. 

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“Yesterday evening at approximately 9:02 p.m., officers responded to a swatting call at the residence of U.S. Supreme Court Justice in Fairfax County,” county police said in a statement to NR. Swatting refers to the practice of making false emergency calls to draw a heavy police response.

“The call was received through the department’s non-emergency line,” the statement adds. “Officers immediately coordinated with Supreme Court Police personnel assigned to the residence and quickly determined that the report was fictitious. No additional police resources were utilized.”

The incident was first reported by freelance reporter Andrew Leyden, who shared police audio that indicates police were called to the residence for the sound of gunshots.

In the audio clip, the dispatcher advises units responding to a “suspicious noise” that dispatchers have not been able to get an answer on callback to the complainant’s phone number. “Unknown if it’s going to be a swatting situation,” the dispatcher adds.

“Swatting,” or falsely reporting violent activity at the residence of a targeted individual, has become a popular tactic used by individuals looking to harm a public figure or create a dangerous disruption at their home. The tactic has been used against dozens of members of Congress as well as many celebrities.

The police have not yet announced the arrest of a suspect.

The Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment from National Review.

Justice Barrett and other conservatives on the Supreme Court have previously been targeted by leftist protesters and advocacy groups, including most notably in June 2022, in the lead up to, and the aftermath of, the Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade.

At that time, protesters gathered outside Barrett’s home, where she lives with her husband and seven children.

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The protest occurred after leftist group Ruth Sent Us, along with Vigil for Democracy, created a Google Maps graphic called “Extremist Justices,” pinning what it claimed were the home addresses of Justices Barrett, Kavanaugh, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Roberts.

Also in June 2022, after the leak of a Dobbs draft opinion, a California man attempted to assassinate Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh. Nicholas John Roske, who has since been sentenced to eight years in prison for the crime, was detained by police outside Kavanaugh’s home in Maryland.

Roske called 911 himself because he was having suicidal thoughts. He told a dispatcher he had come “from California to kill a specific” Supreme Court justice, police said.

Earlier this month, Chief Justice John Roberts sought to change how the public perceives the Court.

“I think at a very basic level, people think we’re making policy decisions, [that] we’re saying we think this is what things should be as opposed to this is what the law provides,” Roberts said. “I think they view us as truly political actors, which I don’t think is an accurate understanding of what we do. I would say that’s the main difficulty.”

“We’re not simply part of the political process, and there’s a reason for that, and I’m not sure people grasp that as much as is appropriate,” Roberts said.

He went on to argue that criticism over the Court’s decision should focus solely on legal merit, not on the justices as individuals.

“As soon as that happens, that’s not appropriate, and it can lead to very serious problems,” he said.

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