- Steve Bannon's podcast studio in Washington, DC, was raided live on air by police.
- They responded to calls of a shooting at the location, police told Insider.
- Bannon said that this is not the first time he has been raided as a result of a "swatting" call.
Right-wing ideologue Steve Bannon's podcast studio in Washington, DC, was raided live on air after police responded to calls of a shooting at the location.
Listeners of Bannon's "War Room" podcast on Thursday heard a scuffle in the background before the host switched to an ad break.
Later in the show, broadcast from Bannon's home studio, he explained the noise. "We got 'swatted' in the middle of the show," he said, per the Mail Online.
Bannon, a former campaign chair and White House chief strategist for President Donald Trump added: "I tell my team, 'Hey, can you knock it off? I gotta concentrate here.' We're actually getting 'swatted.'"
As Insider previously reported, Swatting, also known as "SWATing," is the act of sending armed police to an unsuspecting victim's home under false pretenses.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department told Insider, "At approximately 10:32 a.m., MPD responded to the 200 block of A Street, NE, for the report of a shooting. Preliminarily, this appears to be a false call. MPD searched the area, and nothing was found."
Livestreamers, like Bannon, are prime target for swatting. If the swatters get it right, they can have the maximum impact and the dubious pleasure of watching their victim deal with the unexpected police visit live on air.
Speaking on his podcast, Bannon said that this is not the first time he has been raided due to a false call.
"The criminals, and it is criminals, that continue to 'SWAT' us have to understand that the police are savvy to you and investigating it," he said.
"Swatting" became a federal crime in the United States in 2015, punishable by up to a lifetime in prison.
"They're trying to make sure that something happens here, that one of the police officers gets concerned about what's going on and actually starts firing," Bannon added.
"Swatting" is rare, but it has, in some cases, resulted in injuries and deaths.
Last July, heavily-armed police swarmed Steve Bannon's home in Washington, DC, following a false report claiming that a man had shot someone inside, The Washington Post reported.
Follwing the latest incident, Bannon said the "swatting" calls are an attempt at silencing him, saying these callers "fear this audience."
"What they're gonna try to do is take any voice, whether it's Donald Trump or Tucker Carlson or Steve Bannon of the 'War Room,' they're gonna try to eliminate all those voices," the right-wing podcast host said, per the Mail Online.
A major study, in February, by the Brookings Institute reviewing the top US political podcasts found that conservative-leaning shows are vastly more likely to include misinformation — with Steve Bannon's "War Room" coming way ahead.
Bannon called it a "badge of honor," according to The New York Times.
