Pete Buttigieg briefly separated from children after false police report

Pete Buttigieg, the former US transportation secretary, has revealed he was forced to spend a night away from his children because of an anonymous allegation against him, which police say they later determined to be false.

Michigan State Police found no evidence to substantiate the anonymous claim, and believed it was politically motivated, the Democrat said.

After receiving an anonymous report that he posed a danger to his children, the police arranged forensic interviews for his four-year old twins and notified him that he was not to be alone with the children until interviews were conducted, he said.

Michigan State Police told the BBC the anonymous allegation against Buttigieg was false.

Buttigieg, widely touted as a 2028 White House contender, wrote in a post on Substack that it was “among the darkest hours of my life”.

“I cannot describe the mix of rage and sadness that I feel at the idea that someone brought our children into this,” he added.

“They are four years old. Four. They do not know or care what a Democrat or a Republican is.”

Buttigieg said he worried about the “unseen effects” of the ordeal on him, his husband, Chasten, and their children.

He described the false allegation as the Child Protective Services equivalent of Swatting, in which hoax callers dispatch armed police to homes.

Michigan State Police told the BBC: “This week, the Michigan State Police received an anonymous report.

“The Michigan State Police and Child Protective Services responded and determined the report was false.”

Their statement described such false reports as “dangerous” and that they divert “workers from responding to legitimate emergencies and protecting vulnerable children and families”.