Two eastern European men have been charged with federal crimes in connection with the swatting attempts on Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.
Bellows and her family received threats of violence in December 2023 after she tried to take Donald Trump off Maine’s ballot. She said her personal information had been shared on the dark web, a practice known as “doxxing.”
On “Maine Calling” on Thursday, Bellows said she is relieved the case is solved.
“State and federal law enforcement working together apprehended the perpetrators of that swatting. It turns out that they were foreign nationals, and I’m impressed that Department of Justice worked so hard to bring the perpetrators to justice and are now moving forward to hold them accountable,” Bellows said.
The secretary of state said we cannot live in fear and let online trolls undermine democracy.
“Now is the time for relationship building and finding community to join together and do the right thing. There are no simple solutions in a democracy for the problems before us. I think standing up for democracy starts with each one of us,” she said.
The Department of Justice said Bellows was one of about 100 U.S. officials targeted with swatting.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
