Feds Target a Foreign ‘Swatting’ Conspiracy Directed at Senior Government Officials and Other U.S. Citizens

Thomasz Szabo, 26, from Romania, and Nemanja Radovanovic, 21, from Serbia, were charged on Aug. 21 in an indictment on 34 counts related to conspiracy and making false statements to “swat” U.S. citizens, according to a DOJ press release. The targets of the alleged swatting scheme ranged from private citizens and law enforcement to government officials and religious institutions.

The Awful Crime of ‘Swatting’

‘Swatting’ occurs when someone contacts law enforcement to falsely report a severe threat at a specific location to provoke a response from a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, as detailed in a Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) report.

Typically, perpetrators of these hoaxes call a police department and report a serious crime, to which police believe they must respond immediately and with significant force to save innocent lives. Often, swatters tell police their victims are holding people hostage in their homes, sometimes adding that they have already killed someone.

Police respond with SWAT teams, and, based on information that the “perpetrator” is armed and dangerous, they show up prepared to deploy lethal force to deter the loss of innocent lives.

Except their so-called perpetrator is actually an innocent homeowner, who resists not because he has committed a crime but because he is shocked and confused by the fatigue-wearing officers who are pointing their guns in his face, often in the middle of the night.

It’s a tragedy all around. These actions are not only dangerous for the victims and law enforcement officers involved, but they also draw resources away from genuine emergencies and waste taxpayer funds.

Bomb Threats and Hostage Reports

From around December 2020 through January 2024, Szabo and Radovanovic conspired with others to use the personal information of their targets to credibly make false reports of crimes in progress at the victims’ homes to try to provoke a police response, according to the indictment.

Szabo and Radovanovic’s targets included religious institutions, U.S. Representatives, law enforcement officials and state legislators, prosecutors say. Sometimes, they made bomb threats– all hoaxes. To conceal their identities, they used virtual private networks, internet-based phone services and text-to-speech apps.

Szabo, Radovanovic and the other conspirators used multiple online aliases to communicate with each other, the indictment alleges. Szabo reportedly used names like Johan, War Lord, Shovel, Cypher, Plank and Shekelstorms when communicating online, and Radovanovic went by names like Angus, Thug Hunter, NotThuggin, XDR and AOD in his communications.

Szabo and Radovanovic first relayed a false threat about a planned mass shooting at a synagogue in New York City in December 2020. They followed that up with a bomb threat to the U.S. Capital in January 2021 that included a death threat to then-President-elect Biden, according to the indictment.

Over a Hundred Victims

Over the next three and a half years, Szabo and Radovanovic allegedly swatted 40 private citizens, 61 government officials, four religious institutions, four businesses and one university, falsely reporting explosives, homicides, imminent suicides, kidnappings, and hostage situations as detailed in the indictment. Their last reported victim was a state governor in January 2024.

At the time of writing, no trial date for this case has been set, and it is unclear how Szabo and Radovanovic will plead.

Protect Yourself From Being ‘Swatted’

While high-profile individuals and celebrities might be the most likely victims of a swatting conspiracy, anyone can be targeted for these attacks. Police are working on ways to better vet anonymous tips, but meanwhile, CISA recommends the following:

• Decrease the availability of your personal information online
• Enable multifactor identification on your accounts when possible
• Stay calm and follow instructions when unexpectedly confronted by a SWAT squad or other law enforcement raid

CISA compiled these recommendations specifically for election workers who might be targeted in swatting conspiracies, but they are good general advice.

Resisting a SWAT Team Can Be Deadly

If a SWAT team bursts into your home or workplace without just cause, you may have legal recourse to seek relief through the courts. However, the time to show your outrage at being an innocent victim of a raid isn’t when that raid is occurring. Resisting, under those circumstances, can result in injuries to you or your family, even death.

There have been notable incidents of this, including one in 2017 in which police shot a Witchita, Kan. man who unexpectedly dropped his hands after being told to hold them up, according to a 2019 DOJ press release. Two fellow gamers had initiated the hoax against the victim after a disagreement over Call of Duty, a video game.

The perpetrators went to prison, and the family received $5 million in a settlement with the city, but at the end of the day, Shane Gaskill was still dead.