• Romanian Thomasz Szabo pleads guilty to leading a swatting conspiracy.
• He targeted U.S. lawmakers, churches, and a former president.
• Involved false police emergencies to prompt armed responses.
• Sentencing date set for October 23, 2024.
• Co-defendant Nemanja Radovanovic faces pending charges.

A Romanian man, Thomasz Szabo, has pleaded guilty to orchestrating a years-long scheme of deceptive emergency calls and bomb threats aimed at various American officials, including a former U.S. president and multiple members of Congress. Szabo, 26, admitted to his involvement in these intimidation tactics that resulted in false reports of violent incidents at residences and workplaces, according to Reuters, HuffPost, CBS News, and The Hill.

During his guilty plea, Szabo acknowledged leading a group responsible for targeting around 100 individuals, employing "swatting" tactics designed to provoke police responses. He is scheduled for sentencing on October 23, 2024, by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, and had been extradited to the U.S. in November 2024, according to HuffPost and CBS News.

Szabo's conduct included planning threats that referenced mass shootings and bombings at significant locations; these actions were part of a larger pattern of intimidation. For instance, in December 2020, he falsely reported an impending mass shooting at synagogues in New York City and threatened to detonate explosives at the U.S. Capitol, targeting then-President-elect Biden, according to Reuters and The Hill.

Radovanovic, Szabo's co-defendant from Serbia, is yet to appear in court for related charges, with both defendants allegedly collaborating on the selection of targets from various political affiliations, revealing a potentially ideologically agnostic approach to their threats, according to HuffPost and The Hill.