Feb. 5 (UPI) — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has requested Secret Service protection as she faces an increasing number of threats to her security, according to multiple reports published Monday.
Haley, the last remaining challenger to former President Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination, told the Wall Street Journal she made the request after encountering “multiple” security issues along the campaign trail.
“It’s not going to stop me from doing what I need to do,” she said.
A Haley campaign spokesperson later confirmed the report to ABC News and CNN.
The request comes in the wake of two recent “swatting” incidents at the former South Carolina governor’s home on Kiawah Island. One of the incidents happened when her elderly parents were at the home with their caregiver and involved the arrival of police with their guns drawn, she told NBC’s Meet the Press last week.
A “swat” is defined as a false report of a shooting or some other kind of violent act phoned in to police in hopes that a heavily armed tactical unit will respond to the targeted location.
Seen as a form of harassment aimed at politicians, high-profile people, schools and other targets, the swatting attacks have reached “unprecedented” proportions, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in July while announcing that the FBI has established a command center to facilitate information flow between law enforcement agencies across the country on swatting incidents.
More than a dozen public officials were targeted by attempted swatting attacks between Christmas and Jan. 19, CBS News reported.
Among those affected were Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who said his Naples, Fla., home was swatted while he was having dinner with his wife. The same day, Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., alleged her two daughters’ homes were swatted, as well.
