Pete Buttigieg Targeted by False Child Welfare Report at His Traverse City Home
The former Transportation Secretary was separated from his twins after an anonymous caller made false allegations to Child Protective Services
An anonymous caller sent Child Protective Services and police to Pete Buttigieg's Traverse City home last week, falsely alleging that the former Transportation Secretary had confessed to violent crimes and that his twin 4-year-old children were at risk.
The report led to the children undergoing forensic interviews without their father present. Because Buttigieg wasn't permitted to be alone with them until after the interviews were completed, he and his husband Chasten arranged for the kids to stay with their grandparents.
"The twenty-four hours until they returned are among the darkest hours of my life," Buttigieg wrote on Substack, describing the experience as a politically motivated hoax.
The attack was not a traditional swatting incident, where someone falsely reports an emergency to prompt an armed police response. Instead, Buttigieg said someone weaponized the child welfare system against his family, a tactic he said has become frequent enough that the FBI maintains a database tracking such incidents.
The timing added another layer of cruelty: Buttigieg noted the incident occurred during Pride Month and shortly after he shared Father's Day photos of his family online. Michigan State Police determined the report was false after investigation.
Buttigieg's story illuminates something many activists have long understood: Swatters have targeted queer and Black leaders for years, though the harassment of minorities through false reports has received far less mainstream attention than recent attacks on prominent figures.
Buttigieg expressed "rage and sadness" over the attack, writing that he was especially distressed that his young twins were pulled into a political attack. He said he plans to pursue civil and criminal charges if possible, “not just for our own sakes but to draw a line that I thought everyone already recognized: do not mess with someone’s kids.”
The incident prompted bipartisan condemnation from political figures including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former "View" co-host Meghan McCain and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
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