Florida Man Charged with Threatening to Kill Rep. Eric Swalwell

Facts

• A 72-year-old Florida man, Michael Shapiro, has been arrested for threatening to kill Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and his children, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.¹
• It’s alleged that Shapiro, who has been released on bail and has an arraignment scheduled for Jan. 24, left five threatening voicemails at Swalwell’s congressional office in Washington, DC, on Dec. 19.²
• In addition to death threats, Shapiro called the lawmaker “Fang Fang,” a reference to a suspected Chinese spy who raised funds for Swalwell’s congressional campaign in 2012 before leaving the US in 2015.³
• Commenting on the incident in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Swalwell criticized “MAGA Republicans” for choosing “violence over voting,” resulting in incidents such as this.⁴
• Shapiro has been charged with transmitting a violent threat in interstate commerce — his bond is set at $250K. His bail conditions prohibit him from using alcohol or drugs, possessing a firearm, leaving the Southern District of Florida, or contacting Swalwell in any way.⁵

Sources: ¹FOX News, ²NBC, ³WKMG, ⁴CNN and ⁵WFLA.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by The Daily Beast. Swalwell and his family are the latest victims of extremist MAGA Republicans who continue to resort to threats of political violence while hurling racist, homophobic, and xenophobic epithets. Of course, the GOP will ignore these threats and deflect them, but they can’t hide from the fact that these are consequences of their hateful rhetoric.
• Republican narrative, as provided by New York Post. While Swalwell may not be the best representative, there’s no excuse for the disgusting threats made against him. The voicemails from Michael Shapiro, who has a history of unhinged behavior, deserve total condemnation. Politicians should be criticized for their destructive policies and actions, but they should never be subjected to violent threats.

Predictions