A Florida man was taken into custody on Wednesday morning on accusations that he threatened to kill a U.S. Congressperson and their children, according to court records.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice said that the man — Michael Shapiro, 72 — left five voicemails for the Congressperson from his home in Greenacres on Dec. 19.
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A criminal complaint lists some of these messages, which include several expletives and slurs.
“Hey, greaseball, you (expletive) a (expletive) Chinese spy. Fang Fang,” one such call reads.
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“Hey, mother-(expletive), you (expletive) a Chinese spy. You mother-(expletive). I’m gonna come after you and kill you, (expletive),” Shapiro reportedly said in another call.
DOJ officials did not release the name of the Congressperson involved in this incident.
However, a suspected Chinese spy named Christine Fang was involved with the campaign of now-Rep. Eric Swalwell when he was running for Congress in 2012.
According to Forbes, the spy — who also went by “Fang Fang” — worked as a fundraiser for Swalwell before leaving the country in 2015 during an investigation into her activities by U.S. intelligence officials.
Forbes notes that Swalwell reportedly cut ties with Fang after being alerted to the investigation by the FBI, and a House ethics committee probe was unable to find evidence of wrongdoing in Swalwell’s campaign.
The complaint doesn’t specify the Congressperson, either, but it states that Shapiro has been involved in three prior threat cases.
Based on the calls made in those cases, investigators said they were able to link Shapiro to the calls made in December.
Shapiro faces charges of transmitting communications containing threats to injure another person.
According to the DOJ, he made his first appearance on Wednesday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart for the Southern District of Florida.
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