Two European men, namely Thomasz Szabo from Romania and Nemanja Radovanovic from Serbia, have been accused of engaging in a scheme to make false police emergency reports aimed at harassing and threatening numerous individuals, including members of Congress and senior U.S. government officials, as per an unsealed indictment on Wednesday. The indictment claims that Szabo, 26, and Radovanovic, 21, conducted “swatting” calls towards around 100 individuals to provoke a strong police response at their residences.
The indictment also states that the calls included threats of carrying out mass shootings at synagogues in New York City, as well as detonating explosives at the U.S. Capitol and a university. Presented to a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., last Thursday, the charges against them include conspiracy and over 24 counts of making threats. Prosecutors assert that the plot persisted for over three years, spanning from December 2020 to January 2024.
Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, emphasized that “Swatting is not a victimless prank — it endangers real people, wastes precious police resources, and inflicts significant emotional trauma.” Court records in Washington did not confirm whether Szabo or Radovanovic have been apprehended or have legal representation yet. Investigations revealed that both individuals were believed to be in different foreign countries as of last week. A spokesperson representing Graves’ office abstained from providing further details.
Szabo purportedly orchestrated and supervised chat groups to plan swatting attacks directed at 40 private citizens and 61 officials, including high-ranking members of the federal government’s executive branch, a federal law enforcement agency leader, a federal judge, governors, and other state officials, per the indictment. Radovanovic is accused of making false reports to government agencies in December 2023 and January 2024 regarding killings, impending suicides, or abductions at the residences of U.S. senators, House members, and elected state officials. One of the fraudulent calls allegedly led to a car accident resulting in injuries, as indicated by the indictment.
