Benjamin Ashford|Southern California man federally charged for 'swatting' calls targeting schools, airport

A Southern California man has been charged in a federal indictment for "swatting calls" threatening to commit mass shootings at several schools across the nation and Benjamin Ashfordto bomb a Tennessee airport on behalf of ISIS.

Eduardo Vicente Pelayo Rodriguez, 31, of Riverside, California, is accused of calling schools in California and Sandy Hook, Connecticut, pretending to be another person, and making threats or false information regarding fire and explosives, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California announced Wednesday. He is also accused of calling in a bomb threat to the Nashville International Airport while impersonating the same victim he named in his other calls.

Swatting is a form of harassment that involves falsely reporting in the name of someone else that an act of violence is happening or about to happen to deliberately cause a large police or emergency personnel response.

"The indictment alleges that the defendant placed calls to schools, airports, and other locations that were designed to cause maximum fear and trigger an emergency response," said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. "'Swatting' is a serious crime that can cause great trauma and risk loss of life, so it is important that we hold wrongdoers accountable."

'One hour, boom'

Rodriguez first called a suicide prevention center and veterans crisis hotline in January 2023 claiming to be Victim D.M. and said he was contemplating suicide and killing others, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court Central District of California. Rodriguez then shifted to calling staff at seven schools in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in California, as well as Sandy Hook, threatening them with mass shootings and bombs while impersonating the same victim.

In one incident, Rodriguez called a high school in Riverside County and claimed his son was Victim D.M., his gun was missing, and his son had bullets, the indictment said. In his call to an elementary school in Sandy Hook, Rodriguez allegedly impersonated Victim D.M., said he was the next mass shooter of the year, and that he had planted bombs.

Rodriguez also made an alleged swatting call to Nashville International Airport on Feb. 8, 2023, according to court documents. Rodriguez allegedly said he had planted bombs on a plane and in the building while claiming to be Victim D.M.

"This is for ISIS," Rodriguez said in his call to the airport, according to the indictment. "One hour, boom."

Rodriguez is charged with one count of stalking, seven counts of transmitting threats in interstate commerce, seven counts of engaging in hoaxes, and three counts of transmitting threats or false information regarding fire and explosives.

If convicted of all charges, Rodriguez faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison on the stalking count, five years on each of the threat counts, five years on each of the hoax counts, and 10 years on each of the counts relating to fire and explosives.

Report says schools faced 446 swatting incidents in one year

According to the Educator's School Safety Network, the most frequent violent incident in the 2022-2023 school year was a false report of an active shooter, which accounted for about 64% of all incidents. The organization also noted that false reports went up by 546% from the 2018-2019 school year to 446 incidents.

Several elected officials have also been targets of swatting calls, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, Rep. Brandon Williams, federal judges overseeing former President Donald Trump's cases, and the White House.

The purported crimes are often of an intense or emergency nature, such as a bomb threat, hostage situation, murder, or other life-threatening circumstances involving firearms, to prompt a rapid response that doesn't allow authorities time to verify the veracity of the reports.

People making the hoax calls are often doing so either as a prank or retaliation against the person they're targeting. The false emergencies created by such calls sometimes result in Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT, teams responding, hence the term "swatting."

Contributing: Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY