Several GOP lawmakers in Indiana have received threats after they canceled a special session to redraw congressional maps at the behest of President Donald Trump.
At least four state senators have received “swatting” threats, which is when a person calls in a fake emergency in the hopes of triggering an armed response from law enforcement.
GOP Sens. Greg Goode, Spencer Deery, Dan Dernulc and Rick Niemeyer have been targeted with swatting attempts on their homes, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported Thursday.
“It is disturbing that anyone would attempt to harm or intimidate lawmakers, but sadly not all that surprising in the current environment,” Deery told the publication after police “thwarted” an attempt at his home.
Along with the swatting attempts, GOP Sen. Andy Zay said Friday that his business received a bomb threat.
The threats began after the lawmakers declined to go through with Trump’s demand to call a special session and vote on new congressional maps earlier this month. Republicans have a 7-2 majority, but Trump had hoped for Indiana to produce a 9-0 map ahead of next year’s midterms.
“Over the last several months, Senate Republicans have given very serious and thoughtful consideration to the concept of redrawing our state’s congressional maps,” Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray said in a statement at the time. “Today, I’m announcing there are not enough votes to move that idea forward, and the Senate will not reconvene in December.”
The decision caught Trump’s ire.
“Very disappointed in Indiana State Senate Republicans, led by RINO [Republican-In-Name-Only] Senators Rod Bray and Greg Goode, for not wanting to redistrict their State, allowing the United States Congress to perhaps gain two more Republican seats,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
That same day, Goode ― called out by name by Trump ― was swatted.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) told reporters Thursday that the threats are “way beyond the pale.”
“All I’m saying as governor ― leader of the state ― stop it,” Braun added.
The move against a special session in Indiana was a huge blow to Trump in his redistricting fight. And on Tuesday, a federal district court ruled that Texas’ mid-decade redistricting enacted in August is an illegal racial gerrymander and ordered the state to use its 2021 maps for the 2026 election.
Trump’s rhetoric has routinely ― and more increasingly ― seemed to put lawmakers in danger, including those in his own party. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) received threats after Trump blasted her on social media for her support of releasing files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex predator and close personal friend of Trump.
“I am now being contacted by private security firms with warnings for my safety as a hotbed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world,” Greene said of Trump in a post on X, formerly Twitter, last week.
In recent days, Trump has become even less subtle about his calls for violence. On Thursday, Trump suggested Democratic veterans in Congress should be hanged for releasing a joint video urging U.S. military service members to disobey unlawful orders.
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” Trump posted on Truth Social. He also shared a post from a user calling for the lawmakers’ killings that read: “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
