An Indiana Republican lawmaker underwent a swatting incident on Sunday after President Donald Trump called him a “RINO” for opposing the Republican Party’s mid-decade redistricting agenda.
State Sen. Greg Goode was the target of the swatting incident. His household was reported for a false emergency in a prank email to the Terre Haute Police Department. The email was sent around 5 p.m. Sunday, according to local authorities. Deputies responded to the home shortly thereafter, only to find there was no emergency and that the home belonged to the state senator.
“Attempts were initially unsuccessful to raise anyone at the residence, but ultimately contact was made with persons inside the home,” the Vigo County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “All persons were secure, safe, and unharmed. Investigation showed that this was a prank or false email.”
The sheriff’s office declined to share further details amid the investigation, but it denounced the swatting incident for wasting officers’ time and putting the victims in harm’s way.
“A false or prank call of this nature will never be acceptable,” the statement reads. “Not only do calls like this waste and reduce resources of deputies serving and protecting other parts of our county, they have a negative impact on the victim and their families as well. Our office along with federal authorities will investigate this incident with every intention of discovering who is responsible.”
The false email came hours after Trump criticized Goode and Rodric Bray, president pro tempore of the Indiana Senate, for abandoning his redistricting effort to gain two more House GOP seats in Indiana ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
On Friday, Bray announced that the Indiana Senate would not reconvene in December to proceed with redrawing the state’s congressional map. The lawmaker said there were not enough votes in favor of the idea.
The state legislature’s rejection of partisan gerrymandering came in spite of the White House’s outreach to Indiana Republicans over the past few months.
Trump said he was “very disappointed” in the result, taking aim at Goode and Bray.
“Because of these two politically correct type ‘gentlemen,'” he wrote on Truth Social, “and a few others, they could be depriving Republicans of a Majority in the House, A VERY BIG DEAL!”
Vice President JD Vance visited the state’s lawmakers in August and again in October to encourage them to take up redistricting. Seven out of nine members of Indiana’s congressional delegation are Republicans. A new map would turn the entire delegation red.
Trump also suggested that Gov. Mike Braun (R-IN), whom he called a “friend of mine,” did not do enough to get the votes needed for a redistricting measure. Despite the criticism leveled against him, Braun expressed his displeasure with the Indiana Senate’s inaction on the issue.
“Considering that Mike wouldn’t be Governor without me (Not even close!), is disappointing!” the president said.
Indiana Republicans previously visited the White House for a meeting with Trump. Afterward, Braun warned that there could be funding repercussions for not working with the Trump administration.
Later in the message, Trump implored Goode and Bray to do their jobs and, if they did not, suggested they risk being booted out of office.
In response to the swatting incident, Goode called for civility.
TRUMP RIPS ‘POLITICALLY CORRECT’ INDIANA REPUBLICANS FOR ABANDONING REDISTRICTING EFFORT
“Vigo County sheriff’s deputies responded to the incident under the impression of a domestic violence emergency,” he wrote on X. “The deputies professionally fulfilled their duty.
“While this entire incident is unfortunate and reflective of the volatile nature of our current political environment, I give thanks to God that my family and I are ok.”
