Buttigieg false – Pete Buttigieg says a false anonymous report alleging he posed a danger to his four-year-old twins led police and child protective services to respond and arrange forensic interviews, forcing him to spend a night away from his children. Michigan State Police s
Pete Buttigieg described the moment as a gut punch: after an anonymous allegation landed with authorities. Michigan State Police and child protective services came to his home. arranged forensic interviews for his four-year-old twins. and told him he could not be alone with them until the interviews were complete.
He says he spent a night away from his children. He called the 24-hour ordeal “among the darkest hours of my life,” writing about it in a Substack post.
Buttigieg said he was told by a Michigan State Police officer that the department found nothing to substantiate the anonymous report and believed the call was politically motivated. In a statement. Michigan State Police said they received an “anonymous report” and that they and child protective services “responded and determined the report was false.”.
According to Buttigieg, the anonymous allegation claimed he posed a danger to his children and prompted the authorities to come to his home. He said police arranged forensic interviews for his twins and instructed him not to be alone with them until the interviews were completed.
The next day, Buttigieg said investigators told him the caller claimed he had confessed years earlier to violent crimes during a chance meeting in Alabama. Buttigieg said he had never been to the town where the meeting allegedly occurred.
He also said police told him the allegation would not be referred to prosecutors, while Child Protective Services found nothing to substantiate the report.
The impact, in his telling, went beyond the investigation. “I cannot describe the mix of rage and sadness that I feel at the idea that someone brought our children into this,” he wrote. “They are four years old. Four. They do not know or care what a Democrat or a Republican is.”
Buttigieg, a former Transportation Secretary, is widely viewed as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. The account fits into a broader pattern he has previously described, including long-running anti-LGBTQ attacks and death threats during his career.
In recent years. conservative activists and some Republican officials have opposed efforts to portray same-sex parents as ordinary families in schools and public life. Buttigieg also tied the timing of the incident to the weeks around Father’s Day and Alabama’s political messaging during June. which is recognized as Pride Month.
He pointed to a proclamation by Gov. Kay Ivey declaring June “Strong Families Month” in Alabama, intended to coincide with Father’s Day. The proclamation says fathers are “the head of the household” and that “homes led by a father and mother provide children with the structure and discipline necessary to succeed throughout life.”.
Buttigieg said the incident happened soon after he shared photos of his family online for Father’s Day. He also faced criticism from some Republicans for taking paternity leave after he and his husband, Chasten, adopted their twins while he was serving in the Biden administration.
For public officials, the episode lands amid a growing threat that has made headlines across the country: swatting. Buttigieg said the incident reflected what he sees as an escalation in political attacks.
Swatting is when someone makes a false call to emergency services to trigger a response at a particular address. often with the aim of getting authorities—particularly a SWAT team—to show up. Law enforcement agencies have warned that the incidents divert resources from other pressing tasks and pose risks to both law enforcement and the victims.
Buttigieg framed the false report as part of something darker and more personal than standard political fights. “But this is the ugliest thing that has happened to me since my career in service began,” he wrote. He later added: “Everyone knows politics is ugly these days. It’s always been ugly, but now it feels more and more like bloodsport.”.
“Even so, this is different,” he wrote.
Pete Buttigieg Michigan State Police anonymous report child protective services forensic interviews swatting LGBTQ anti-LGBTQ attacks 2028 presidential speculation Alabama Strong Families Month Kay Ivey Father’s Day