Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced her home was “swatted” on Friday night following her ruling that former President Donald Trump is ineligible for Maine’s 2024 Republican primary.
Bellows announced in an Instagram post on Saturday that her home address was posted online and her house was swatted — meaning someone reported a fake emergency at the property to garner a large-scale police response intended to scare the target.
Though Bellows and her family were not home at the time of the incident, she condemned the perpetrator and those who have made other threats against her and her staff following her decision, which was announced Thursday.
“This behavior is unacceptable,” Bellows wrote in the post. “The non-stop threatening communications the people who work for me endured all day yesterday is unacceptable. It’s designed to scare not only me but also others into silence, to send a message.”
The incident came the day after Bellows, a Democrat, decided Trump does not qualify for the ballot for violating the so-called insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by inciting the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021.
The call came at around 8:15 p.m. on Friday to the Augusta Regional Communications Center, according to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss. A male caller said he broke into a home on Kerns Hill Road in Manchester, which is Bellows’ home.
Exterior and interior sweeps of the residence found nothing suspicious, Moss said.
Bellows declined to comment on other threats made against her or measures that are being taken to protect her, but confirmed that she is working with police to keep herself, her family and her staff safe.
Though Bellows said she was prepared to receive threats following her decision and worked with police to protect herself, her loved ones and her employees, she is “shocked and deeply troubled” by the level of threats her staff received yesterday.
“We should be able to agree to disagree on issues without threats or violence,” she said. “No one should be threatened with violence or swatted for doing their job. I strongly encourage people to de-escalate the rhetoric.”
Despite the threats, Bellows said she remains confident in her decision because “there is no exception in Maine statute to not do something because you fear what people might do to you.”
Bellows also expressed gratitude for the people who have reached out to support her in her decision, regardless of whether they agree with it.
“I encourage every Mainer this New Year’s weekend to channel love, respect and kindness and appreciation for difference of opinion,” she said. “Let’s stand up for those Maine values that have always made our state the way life should be.”
