Romanian national, 26, pleads guilty to swatting over 75 public officials, including a former US president
A Romanian national pleaded guilty on Monday to charges related to his role in a “swatting” ring that targeted dozens of public officials, including a former US president. Going by the aliases “Plank,” “Jonah” and “Cypher,” 26-year-old Thomasz Szabo took part in a years-long conspiracy to place bogus 911 calls, claiming emergencies were taking place at the homes of top government officials, and make bomb threats against government buildings and houses of worship, according to Justice Department. Szabo and a co-conspirator, 21-year-old Serbian national Nemanja Radovanovic, allegedly targeted about 100 people, including members of Congress, governors, cabinet-level executive branch officials and state officials. One of their alleged victims is identified as a “former elected official from the executive branch” who was swatted on Jan.9.
2024, when Radovanovic falsely reported a murder at the home of the former president or vice president – who is not named in the indictment – and threatened to blow up the person’s residence. Several of the victims were selected by Szabo, who directed Radovanovic to place the emergency calls targeting both Republicans and Democrats, according to the indictment. “We are not on any side,” Szabo allegedly told Radovanovic. The menacing calls started around December 2020, when Szabo called a crisis intervention hotline and threatened to “commit a mass shooting at multiple unspecified synagogues in New York City,” the indictment states. Around Jan.17, 2021, Szabo allegedly called another crisis intervention hotline and threatened to detonate explosives at the US Capitol Building and kill then-President-elect Joe Biden. The duo’s last “swatting” call listed in the indictment was placed by Radovanovic on Jan.
9, 2024, which reported a homicide at the home of a state governor. Szabo, who was extradited from Romania last November, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of maki...