Florida senior arrested for threatening Rep. Eric Swalwell
Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A 72-year-old Florida man has been arrested and charged with threatening to kill Rep. Eric Swalwell and his children, federal prosecutors said.
Michael Shapiro of Greenacres, Fla., made his initial appearance in court Wednesday after being arrested earlier that morning.
A copy of the complaint obtained by ClickOrlando.com accuses the senior citizen of leaving the Democratic congressman for California five threatening voicemails on Dec. 19.
Excerpts of the voicemails reproduced in the complaint allege the man told Swalwell that he's "gonna come after you and kill you."
The voicemails also referenced Swalwell's alleged connections to a suspected Chinese spy.
His ties to the suspected spy Christine Fang were investigated by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee. Its investigation was completed in May, following which it took no disciplinary action against the Democrat.
Though the Justice Department complaint does not mention Swalwell by name, the congressman confirmed he was the subject of Shapiro's threats.
"No threat is going to stop me from representing my constituents. MAGA Republicans have chosen violence over voting and this is what it looks like," he said on X, formerly known as Twitter, referring to the initialism for the Make America Great Again movement of former President Donald Trump.
"But I'm not going away and neither should you."
