Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a widely touted potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, said Friday that Michigan State Police briefly separated him from his four-year-old twin children this week after receiving an anonymous allegation that he posed a danger to them — a claim police say they investigated and determined was false.
Michigan State Police told the BBC they received an “anonymous report” against Buttigieg and that both the agency and Child Protective Services “responded and determined the report was false.” In a statement, the department described such false reports as “dangerous” and said they divert “workers from responding to legitimate emergencies and protecting vulnerable children and families.”
Buttigieg wrote in a post on Substack that a Michigan State Police officer told him no evidence was found to substantiate the allegation and that investigators believed it was politically motivated. The officer informed Buttigieg that he was not to be alone with his children until forensic interviews could be conducted, forcing the former Transportation secretary to spend a night away from them.
“I cannot describe the mix of rage and sadness that I feel at the idea that someone brought our children into this,” Buttigieg wrote. “They are four years old. Four. They do not know or care what a Democrat or a Republican is.”
Buttigieg described the false allegation as the Child Protective Services equivalent of swatting — a practice in which hoax callers dispatch armed police to a target’s home. He expressed concern about the “unseen effects” of the 24-hour ordeal on himself, his husband Chasten, and their children.
The false report comes as Buttigieg, who served as Transportation secretary under President Joe Biden and ran for president in 2020, is widely discussed as a potential candidate in the 2028 Democratic primary.