Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is speaking out after her home was “swatted” the day after she disqualified former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 primary ballot.
Bellows, a Democrat, said on Saturday that she is concerned for the safety of her family amid fallout from her ruling on Thursday that found Trump violated the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause due to his conduct leading up to the U.S. Capitol breach on January 6, 2021, and wanted to make a statement.
“I decided to speak out today because threats of violence are unacceptable. Swatting the home of an elected official, who is doing their job, is unacceptable,” she told MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend. “And what my staff, my team have experienced — what they experienced all day yesterday, was a constant onslaught of threatening communications. And that has to stop.”
Maine State Police said a call was made by an unknown male on Friday in which he claimed to have broken into an Augusta-area home, prompting a law enforcement response in what authorities ultimately determined was a swatting call, according to local CBS affiliate WGME. Both police and Bellows confirmed that it was her home that was the target. She added that she was away with her husband when the swatting occurred.
“Many of you have asked if Brandon and I are safe. We are away for the holiday weekend. We were not home yesterday when threats escalated, and our home address was posted online,” Bellows said in a post on social media. “It was a good thing because our home was swatted last night. That’s when someone calls in a fake emergency to evoke a strong law enforcement response to scare the target. Swatting incidents have resulted in casualties although thankfully this one did not.”
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The “swatting” incident was the latest in a string of fake reports of an emergency to law enforcement targeting elected officials of both parties this holiday season, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Boston Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu, and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).
Asked what steps are being taken to ensure that threats do not affect her ability to serve the people of Maine, Bellows said she has been “so fortunate” as she praised the work of law enforcement to keep her, her family, and her team safe. Bellows also said that she has received an outpouring of support from the Maine community, including from those people who disagree with her ruling, against which Trump’s campaign has vowed to file a legal challenge.
“But it is important for all good people to speak up,” she said. “And furthermore, I also want to call out the dehumanizing images that have been placed online of me, the threatening communications to people in my family, and to my staff, people who work for me. It is designed to instill fear, and to provoke silence, to keep people from speaking out, to send a message — and it is absolutely wrong and we cannot stand for it.”