U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is giving more insight into a so-called swatting call dispatched to his house in Naples last month, saying that if it happened to him, it could happen to others.
"I hope to God that nobody gets hurt. But that's their whole goal, that somebody gets shot," Scott said.
During a Newsmax interview, Florida's junior Senator said the pranksters wanted him to fire on responding law enforcement officers.
"The whole goal, like what they did to me, is that I would have my weapons ready and I would be afraid that somebody broke into my house and I would shoot at the police, and they would shoot at me. That was their whole goal," Scott said.
Naples Police spokesman Lt. Bryan McGinn confirmed police dispatch received a 911 call on Dec. 27 at 9:02 p.m. claiming a shooting occurred. Police confirmed the alleged incident occurred at home on the street where Scott lives.
An incident report shows a caller claimed to be a resident of the home. The caller identified himself as "Jamal" and said that he "shot his wife with an AR-15 because she was sleeping with another dude." The caller also claimed to be holding his wife's boyfriend, "Michael," hostage and that he would blow up the house with a pipe bomb if he weren't given $10,000.
Scott has teamed up with U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville to introduce the Preserving Safe Communities by Ending Swatting Act. That bill, backed by the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) and the National Sheriffs' Association, could put swatters in prison for 20 years if someone is hurt because of their actions.
The Senator contends that swatting may not be taken as seriously as it should be since Republicans don't control the Executive Branch.
"The way I look at this is," Scott said, "if it was happening to a bunch of Democrats, I think they would put a lot more effort into it."
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Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
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