A Florida man was arrested after he threatened to kill U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell and his children in a series of voicemails left at the California Democrat’s Washington office last month.
According to court records, Michael Shapiro, 72, of Greenacres, Florida, was arrested Wednesday morning on a charge of transmitting a threatening communication. He first appeared in federal court in West Palm Beach, where a bond of $250,000 was set.
According to the criminal complaint, on December 19, Shapiro left five voicemail messages at Swalwell’s D.C. office. The member of Congress is not named in the complaint, but Swalwell confirmed the messages were left for him in a social media post on Wednesday.
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In one of the messages, Shapiro stated that he was going to “come after you and kill you …” In another message, he stated that he was going to “come and kill your children …”
The complaint further alleges that Shapiro pleaded guilty in federal court in 2019 for making threatening communications to another victim.
The USCP is investigating the case, with assistance from USCP’s Tampa Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dispoto for the Southern District of Florida and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Wheeler for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
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