Georgia State Senator Clint Dixon (R-Buford) says he plans to run legislation increasing penalties for "swatting" after his home was targeted twice over the holidays.
Swatting involves someone falsely reporting a serious crime at a residence with the goal of triggering a large police response to that location. Dixon spoke on WDUN's "The Martha Zoller Show" Tuesday and said it's something no one should have to go through.
"It's not a prank at all," Dixon said. "If those officers had not known me, I probably would have been thrown on the ground and had a gun in my back...somebody could get seriously hurt or killed."
Dixon's home was targeted on Christmas day, and again the following day. He said the incidents frightened his family members who were in the home at the time.
"My son was on the far end of the house, my two daughters were on the steps as the police came up. They were rattled, along with my wife. My wife was very upset and scared to death, to say the least," Dixon said. "The second call, my 76-year-old mother was watching our dogs as we were out of town. Luckily, the captain had called me as they were coming in and I was able to reach my mom so she wasn't scared to death as they approached the house."
Dixon said, currently, the first offense of swatting is considered a misdemeanor unless it targets critical infrastructure or if the target is injured in the incident. The second offense is considered a felony and punishable by five years in prison.
Dixon said he spoke with Georgia Lt. Governor Burt Jones, who was also recently the target of swatting, last week. Dixon said he intends to introduce legislation elevating the crime, but he said there are other things that need to be addressed to prevent future incidents.
"(I also intend to) add legislation in there as far as out disclosures, not changing what we have to disclose on our financial records, but at least our personal address would be redacted from the public," Dixon said. "Keeping those addresses where they're a little bit harder to find."
Dixon said while he understands that any public officials will face scrutiny, he believes attacks go to far when they involve an official's family.
"Once you start dragging my children and my wife into it, especially where they could be harmed physically, it's just uncalled for and we've got to do something about it," Dixon said. "I'm committed to do that. It should be a bipartisan issue."
To hear more from Georgia State Senator Clint Dixon, click play on the audio above.
