Global Courant 2023-05-13 14:37:19
Steve Bannon arrives at the state Supreme Court in Manhattan for a ‘We Build The Wall’ charity scam case.Seth Wenig/AP
Steve Bannon’s podcast studio in Washington, D.C. was raided live by police.
They were responding to calls of a shooting at the location, police told Insider.
Bannon said this isn’t the first time he’s been mugged as a result of a “swatting” call.
Right-wing ideologue Steve Bannon’s podcast studio in Washington, DC, was raided live on air after police responded to calls of a shooting at the location.
listeners of Bannon’s ‘War Room’ podcast heard a scuffle in the background on Thursday before the presenter switched to a commercial break.
Later in the show, broadcast from Bannon’s home studio, he explained the noise. “We got ‘slapped’ in the middle of the show,” he said, by Mail Online.
Bannon, a former campaign chairman and chief White House strategist for President Donald Trump, added: “I say to my team, ‘Hey, can you pull it off? I need to focus here.’ We are actually being ‘slapped’.”
As Insider before reportedSwatting, also known as “SWATing”, is the sending of armed police to the home of an unsuspecting victim under false pretenses.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department told Insider: “At approximately 10:32 a.m. MPD responded to the 200 block of A Street, NE, for the report of a shooting. For now, this appears to be a bogus call. MPD searched the area, and nothing was found.”
Live streamers, like Bannon, are prime targets for swatting. If the swatters get it right, they can have the maximum impact and the dubious pleasure of watching their victim deal with the unexpected police visit live on air.
Speaking on his podcast, Bannon said this isn’t the first time he’s been mugged over a false call.
“The criminals, and they are criminals, who keep ‘SWAT’ing us, need to understand that the police are treating you well and are investigating,” he said.
“Swatting” became one federal crime in the United States in 2015, punishable by life imprisonment.
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“They’re trying to make sure that something happens here, that one of the police officers becomes concerned about what’s going on and actually starts firing,” Bannon added.
“Swatting” is rare, but has resulted in injured and killed.
Last July, heavily armed police swarmed Steve Bannon’s home in Washington, D.C., after a false report claimed a man shot someone inside. That reports the Washington Post.
Following the latest incident, Bannon said the “swatting” calls are an attempt to silence him, saying these callers are “afraid of this audience.”
“What they’re going to try is take away every voice, whether it’s Donald Trump or Tucker Carlson or Steve Bannon from the ‘War Room,’ they’re going to try to eliminate all those voices,” the right-wing podcast host said. , according to the Mail Online.
A large study, in February, by the Brookings Institute watching the major US political podcasts found that conservative-leaning shows are much more likely to contain misinformation – with Steve Bannon’s “War Room” coming way ahead.
Bannon called it a “sign of honor,” according to The New York Times.
Read the original article Business Insider