Alabama man latest victim in string of swatting incidents on conservative commentators

An Alabama man is the latest victim in a recent string of swatting calls directed at conservatives.

Sheriff’s deputies in full body armor and automatic rifles descended on Larry Taunton’s rural Talladega County home in Monday’s pre-dawn hours after receiving a 911 call that there were three armed men in hoodies in the house shooting people and there was blood everywhere. The caller purported to be in Taunton’s home.

In reality, Taunton, an international journalist and author who has written extensively about The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, corruption and the war in Ukraine, was about to go join his wife who already was asleep in their bed.

“I look out onto my deck, it’s like 1:15 a.m., I see two other guys, but I couldn’t see uniforms or anything like that, just figures, men, with rifles,” Taunton told AL.com. “I’m thinking, ‘What the hell?’”

Taunton at that moment became the latest victim of swatting, which is a bogus phone call to report serious crimes taking place in an effort to draw police SWAT teams to a specific location. People have died in past swatting incidents.

The incident was captured on Taunton’s Ring camera, which he posted to X on Monday.

FBI Director Kash Patel on Friday said the agency is investigating a recent spike in swatting incidents after several conservative media figures said they were targeted.

“I want to address the alarming rise in ‘Swatting’ incidents targeting media figures,” Patel wrote on X. “The FBI is aware of this dangerous trend, and my team and I are already taking action to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”

“This isn’t about politics—weaponizing law enforcement against ANY American is not only morally reprehensible but also endangers lives, including those of our officers," Patel wrote.

Social media influencer Gunther Eagleman, radio host Joe Pagliarulo, and Infowars' Chase Geiser each claimed to be among a slew of figures who were victims of false swatting calls this week. Also reporting swatting incidents were commentators Shawn Farash, Nick Sortor and parody account Catturd, according to Fox News.

On Monday, he chronicled his ordeal in an interview with AL.com.

His wife was asleep, and he was about to do the same when his German Shepherd, Ranger, became agitated.

“His fur was up, and he was very much in vigilant mode,” Taunton said. “I’ve learned to pay attention to his moods because there’s usually a reason for it.”

Taunton thought maybe there was a rodent in the home. “He was going around investigating and I couldn’t hear anything,’’ he said of his dog.

Taunton went to his bedroom, and a short time later saw a flash of light outside. Then there was a second flash.

“I’m very rural,” he said. “It’s not like any cars drive by.”

Taunton grabbed his weapon and exited his bedroom. It was then he saw a silhouette of a man with an automatic rifle on his deck.

“No one accidentally ends up on my deck with automatic rifles,’’ he said.

Taunton turned on a light inside the house, and a sheriff’s deputy said, “Police.”

“I’m still confused,’’ Taunton said. “I stayed where I was, still holding my weapons, and said, ‘Identify yourselves, show me your badges.’”

One of the officers used a flashlight to illuminate his uniform. Ultimately, Taunton turned on the deck lights.

“I could see they were all in uniform. They’re all wearing body armor,” he said. “In a situation like this, the adrenaline is flowing. I’m on edge and they’re on edge.”

Taunton told one of the deputies he could come inside. That’s when the deputy told him they had received a 911 from someone in the home.

“I’m thinking, ‘Nobody called you,’” Taunton said.

The conversation quickly deescalated.

“These were sensible guys,” Taunton said.

He learned there were about nine sheriff’s cruisers at the end of the driveway, and they had approached his house under the cloak of darkness.

“It was a very different scenario than police coming with their lights on,” he said. “These guys were tiptoeing around my deck in total darkness with flashlights and automatic rifles.”

“It looked like was about to die in an Alamo type situation and I didn’t even know why,” Taunton said.

Authorities later told Taunton it appeared the 911 caller dialed in on Wi-Fi and knew how to hide the location. “So, the likelihood of tracking down the person is going to be very hard,” he said.

Taunton said he was already aware of other swatting incidents aimed at conservative journalists.

“I had just come back from Africa where I had a run in with the Egyptian secret police outside of USAID headquarters that was extremely intense, more intense than what happened last night here,” he said. “So, these are on your mind.”

Taunton said ironically, he had taken his wife to dinner in Birmingham Sunday night where they discussed the dangers of his job.

“She said to me, ‘The work you do is so dangerous,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, but sweetheart look around. We’re in Birmingham. There’s not anybody in this restaurant who knows what I do or cares.”

Taunton was the founder of Fixed Point Foundation, a Christian ministry in Birmingham that organized high-profile debates between atheists and Christian evangelists. He resigned from his executive director position in 2018 following revelations of improper relationships but was reinstated the following year.

Taunton said he doesn’t know exactly why he was targeted, again mentioning his coverage of USAID.

“I have for the past several years been tracking migrant caravans in South America as they make their way across…to the us border,’’ he said. “USAID has been funding a lot of this while taking a public position that they’re trying to stem the tide.”

“Is this related to USAID? Possibly.” Taunton said. “It’s also possible that it’s related to, and it’s maybe even more probable, that it’s related to my criticism of our policy in Ukraine.”

“I haven’t taken a pro-Ukraine or pro-Russia approach,” said Taunton, who adopted his daughter from Ukraine. “I’ve taken a pro-peace approach.”

“I don’t have the visibility of some conservatives,” he said, “but I have a decent following, and I publish pretty regularly and do a lot of commentary on these topics.”

Efforts to reach sheriff’s officials for comment on the investigation were unsuccessful, but Taunton said he’d like to see the FBI brought in.

“There should be very serious consequences for something like this,” Taunton said. “I would never ever want to see harm come to you and your family because I don’t like your political opinions.”

“The people who are doing this, at the very least they want to terrorize, but they’re OK with the possibility of people getting killed,” he said. “Had it not been for the fact that I was restrained with my weapon, and the deputies were restrained with their weapons, this could have gone sideways very quickly.”

“These things should not happen to people,” he said. “These people have to be found, and they have to be prosecuted.”

“Whoever did this, they’re wasting taxpayer resources they’re putting lives at risk,” Taunton said. “It’s a very evil thing to do.”

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