Department of Homeland (DHS) Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined FBI Director Kash Patel in the fight against swatting calls targeting members of the “conservative new[s] media,” announcing Wednesday her department will “hunt these cowards down.”
Patel recently confirmed a rise in swatting incidents, when someone tries to send armed police to another person’s house under false pretenses, aimed at media figures and their families.
The act, she said, puts the lives of the victims and responding officers in danger.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we will not sit idly by as conservative new[s] media and their families are being targeted by false swatting,” Noem wrote in a post to X Wednesday.
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She added that DHS is capable of tracing phone numbers and tracking location information.
“We will use it to hunt these cowards down,” Noem wrote. “This is an attack on our law enforcement and innocent families and we will prosecute it as such.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital DHS “won’t get into specifics of investigations,” but echoed Noem’s description of swatters as “cowards.”
Noem posted after several members of the conservative media, including radio hosts, podcasters, influencers and pundits, became victims of alleged swatting incidents at their homes.
Joe “Pags” Pagliarulo, a conservative radio talk show host, told Fox News host Will Cain that during a swatting call at his Texas home last week, he was awoken at 2 a.m. by more than a half dozen armed deputies.
Pagliarulo said he received an alert from one of his security cameras and saw a deputy armed with an AR-15 at his front door.
“[I] called 911 because now we’ve got to find out — if it’s the good guys, I’ve got to be very careful. If it’s the bad guys, I’ve got to go out with my gun and try to protect my family,” Pagliarulo said.
Dispatchers confirmed the sheriff’s office received a 911 call about a hostage situation with multiple dogs shot, apparently pretending to be Pagliarulo.
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The swatter claimed someone was “bleeding out upstairs” and to “please hurry and get inside,” making the situation even more tense for both deputies responding.
“That’s the thing. Not one of those things was happening,” Pagliarulo said. “My family was peacefully sleeping. I was working in my office. Nothing was going wrong in my house. But this guy, wherever he happened to be, was trying to get police to break down the door and possibly either kill me or scare us enough to where I would shut my mouth and not do what I do on the radio every day.”
While deputies defused the situation, Pagliarulo said, “Your heart flops out of your chest.”
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Pagliarulo said he immediately texted Patel, who put out a statement about swatting the next day.
“I want to address the alarming rise in ‘Swatting’ incidents targeting media figures,” Patel wrote in a social media post Friday. “The FBI is aware of this dangerous trend, and my team and I are already taking action to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”
He added the issue isn’t about politics.
“Weaponizing law enforcement against ANY American is not only morally reprehensible but also endangers lives, including those of our officers,” Patel wrote. “That will not be tolerated. We are fully committed to working with local law enforcement to crack down on these crimes.”
Other conservative media figures, including podcaster Nick Sortor and host Shawn Farash, reported similar swatting incidents on the same day last week as Pagliarulo, while InfoWars host Owen Shroyer uploaded a nearly 13-minute video to Wednesday sharing that he was “just swatted.”
A bipartisan, bicameral bill was introduced in January to strengthen penalties against those found guilty of making swatting calls, imposing prison sentences of up to 20 years for false calls resulting in serious injury or death.
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Bill cosponsor Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, described swatting as “political terrorism” in a statement Friday.
“Multiple conservative influencers and pundits have had their homes swatted in the past several days,” Gill wrote. “This is an extremely dangerous form of political terrorism. It’s liable to get somebody killed, and it must end now.”
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Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
