Man pleads guilty to swatting spree impacting scores of government officials

The Department of Justice said Monday that a 26-year-old Romanian man has pleaded guilty to a string of swatting and bomb threat incidents which impacted dozens of senior government officials.

Starting in late-2023, Thomas Szabo and members of a group he oversaw allegedly swatted or made bomb threats against at least 25 members of Congress or their family members; multiple cabinet-level officials; and at least 13 former or current senior federal law enforcement officials, including heads of multiple law enforcement agencies. 

Swatting typically involves calling police to falsely report serious crimes, prompting a SWAT team response.

The spree, which allegedly continued through early January 2024, also impacted multiple members of the federal judiciary, at least 27 then-current or former state government officials or their family members, at least four religious institutions and multiple journalists.

Department of Justice officials say that in addition to leading the group of swatters and encouraging them to follow his example, Szabo has previously engaged in similar behavior, including a January 2021 threat to trigger explosives at the U.S. Capitol in order to kill then President-elect Joe Biden.

Szabo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of threats involving explosives, which jointly carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. He will be sentenced on Oct. 23. 

In January 2024, Recorded Future News reported that Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly’s was targeted in a swatting incident in late December 2023.

Police were summoned to her Arlington County, Virginia residence after an anonymous caller falsely claimed a shooting had occurred inside a home on Easterly’s block.