Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Friday that his family was subjected to what he described as a politically motivated "swatting" incident that resulted in him being separated from his 4-year-old twin children for 24 hours while Child Protective Services conducted an investigation.
In a Substack post titled “A Terrible Thing Happened to My Family,” the former Biden administration official recounted the ordeal, calling it one of the most painful experiences of his public life. Buttigieg said the incident stemmed from an anonymous false report that prompted authorities to investigate allegations of child abuse.
According to Buttigieg, Child Protective Services workers and a Michigan State Police officer arrived at his home in Traverse City, Michigan, after an anonymous caller claimed to have spoken with a woman who allegedly said Buttigieg had personally admitted at a conference that he "had committed unspeakable violent crimes."
Buttigieg disputed the accusation, writing that he had never even been to the Alabama town where the alleged conversation was said to have taken place. He added that the responding police officer indicated he believed the report was politically motivated.
The investigation required Child Protective Services to temporarily separate Buttigieg from his young children while forensic interviews were conducted. Buttigieg wrote that the 24-hour separation was "among the darkest hours of my life."
After completing its investigation, Child Protective Services found no evidence supporting the allegations, according to Buttigieg.
Michigan State Police confirmed key details of the incident in a statement provided to The Associated Press. The agency said it received an anonymous report, responded alongside Child Protective Services, and determined that the allegations were false. The Hill reported it had also reached out to Michigan State Police regarding the incident.
Reflecting on years spent in public service, Buttigieg said he has experienced a wide range of hostility, including protests, threats, and verbal attacks, but described this episode as unlike anything he had previously endured.
"Many times over the years, I have been denounced, yelled at, protested, threatened, and heckled," Buttigieg wrote. "I've been through political attacks in office, death threats in public life, and rocket attacks in war. But this is the ugliest thing that has happened to me since my career in service began."
The former transportation secretary also noted the timing of the incident, saying it occurred shortly after Father's Day and during Pride Month. Buttigieg, who is gay and married to a man, wrote that while he and his family have grown accustomed to hateful rhetoric directed toward them, this marked the first time someone had managed to involve their children directly.
"We're used to nasty, hateful, and sometimes violent things being said about us and even about our family," Buttigieg wrote. "But this is the first time someone managed to invade our lives like this – and drag our children into it."
Beyond his family's experience, Buttigieg pointed to what he described as a broader increase in political threats and violence across the country.
He cited an April report from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs that found a "serious escalation" in the risk environment for political violence in 2025. He also referenced figures released earlier this year by the U.S. Capitol Police showing that the number of threats investigated by the agency increased by nearly 60 percent in 2025.
"Everyone knows politics is ugly these days," Buttigieg wrote. "It's always been ugly, but now it feels more and more like bloodsport."
He concluded by arguing that "cruelty, lies, and even deadly violence" have been directed at political figures from across the ideological spectrum, adding that while most people agree such behavior should end, the country has become increasingly accustomed to it.
