Firefighters were sent to the White House compound on January 15 after receiving a false 911 call claiming a fire.
President Joe Biden was at Camp David with family at that time.
According to a gossip outlet, the fire department reportedly hurried over to the White House to meet with the Secret Service to determine what was going on. Thus, it seems that the swatting effort was successful. It is unknown if President Biden was aware of it.
An individual with knowledge of the situation said that just after 7 a.m., emergency vehicles were sent in response to a report stating that the White House was on fire and that someone was trapped inside.
The individual talked with the media anonymously because they were not allowed to discuss the false emergency call. U.S. Secret Service agents and DC Fire and EMS officials quickly realized the rumor was bogus and disbanded their reaction.
The individual said that they were able to contact the person at the number they provided for the 911 report, but that person acknowledged that they did not make the call. That suggests it was most likely a spoofed call.
After speaking with media outlets, an official who was knowledgeable about the event said that they would not label it as a “swatting,” however, they did say that it was in the same mindset as other cases that involved public figures that were similar. According to the official, a response from the SWAT squad was not provided.
When asked about the event, the Secret Service refused to comment and instead directed all media inquiries to the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
That Monday afternoon, John Biden was scheduled to make his way back to the White House. In addition to spending a portion of the weekend at the presidential retreat in Maryland, he also traveled to Philadelphia to participate in a service event that was held in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
