Congresswoman's home raided by swat team after falling victim to hoax call

Katherine Clark had spoken out against hoax calls and cyberbullying - she suspects the prank call to police was a result of her views

Armed police were sent to the legislator's home within minutes of receiving a hoax call (Getty)

US legislator Katherine Clark fell victim on Sunday to the very act she has been pushing against in government - cyber bullying and hoax calls requesting police send swat teams to people’s homes.

Ms Clark had put her children to bed on Sunday night and was watching television with her husband when armed police holding guns blocked her road and came onto her front lawn.

An officer had been given what turned out to be a false report of an active shooter at Ms Clark’s home.

Ms Clark said in an interview with The Boston Globe that she believes she was the victim of a practice known as swatting - a cyber-bully phones the police, makes a false report which results in swat teams descending on innocent people’s homes, bearing guns and frightening them and their neighbours.

Ms Clark, a 52-year-old Democrat, has been fighting cyber abuse since she entered Congress in 2013. She is the sponsor of the Interstate Swatting Hoax Act, which would make it illegal to prompt an emergency response by police without just cause.

Melrose police spokesman John Guilfoil said the police had received a call with a computer-generated voice reporting shots fired at 9.57pm. The swat team had reached Ms Clark’s house near 10pm.

Mr Guilfoil said the department was investigating.

Swatting is used increasingly by malicious members of the online gaming community, who target female video gamers. Celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Rihanna and Jutin Timberlake have also been targets, as well as New Jersey state legislator Paul Moriarty who pushed for an anti-swatting bill.

Ms Clark’s bill was introduced in November 2015 and has received bi-partisan support. The bill proposes life in prison if a death occurs as a result of swatting.

Her experience last weekend will not deter Ms Clark from pushing her bill forward - it will “really cause me to double down”, she said.

One serial swatter, reported by The New York Times, was a 16-year-old boy in Canada who had confounded authorities for years, sending swat teams to women video gamers’ homes in Florida, North Carolina, California and Canada.

Swatting can involve sending vehicles the size of small tanks into residential streets, and can frighten people into thinking they are being robbed, or they could mistakenly pick up a gun to defend themselves.

In 2010, a police officer looking for a murder suspect in a military-style raid in east Detroit accidentally shot and killed a 7-year-old girl during her sleep.