By Nate Raymond
(Reuters) – Police responded on Sunday night to an apparent “swatting” call falsely reporting a shooting at the home of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, the judge presiding over the criminal case charging former President Donald Trump with attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The incident marked the latest in a string of “swatting” attacks nationally in which individuals have falsely reported crimes in progress to trigger emergency responses by police and get them to respond to particular locations.
According to a police report, officers with the District of Columbia police responded to a call after 10 p.m. on Sunday reporting a shooting at a residence in Washington. The report did not identify the judge by name, but police provided a copy in response to a request to confirm an incident at her home.
An unnamed subject at the residence told officers “she was not injured and that there was no one in her home,” according to the police report. Officers found nothing at the location.
A spokesperson for Chutkan’s court did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. The news was earlier reported by NBC and CNN.
The incident came amid concerns about a rising number of threats against judges nationwide. A Texas woman was arrested in August and charged with threatening to kill Chutkan.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday will hear an appeal by Trump, a Republican, of a ruling by Chutkan denying his bid to dismiss the election charges based on his claim of immunity.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the prosecution, has argued Trump was acting as a candidate, not a president, when he pressured officials to overturn the election results and encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Smith has accused Trump of a multi-pronged conspiracy to hinder the counting and certification of his 2020 defeat, culminating in the Jan. 6 attack. Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges including defrauding the government and obstructing Congress.
Activity in the case before Chutkan been halted amid the appeal, which could delay the trial’s scheduled March 4 start. The case is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump faces this year as he campaigns to win back the White House.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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