Florida man charged with threatening to kill Rep. Eric Swalwell and his children

A Florida man was arrested and charged over allegedly threatening to kill Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and his children in messages to his congressional office, according to federal prosecutors.

Michael Shapiro, 72, called Swalwell’s Washington office on Dec. 19, 2023, and left five voicemails in which he referred to Swalwell’s past relationship with suspected Chinese spy Fang Fang and also threatened the House Democrat and his children, court records show.

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The Democratic representative was not named in the court documents, but Swalwell confirmed that he and his family were the target of the threats.

In the voicemails, Shapiro allegedly called Swalwell a greaseball and said that he would “come after you and kill you” and “come and kill your children.” He also repeated “Fang Fang” multiple times throughout the voicemails, according to the charging documents, which the Justice Department unsealed Wednesday.

Shapiro was arrested and made his initial appearance in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Wednesday, according to the DOJ.

Swalwell responded to the arrest on Wednesday, saying that threats will not stop him.

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“No threat is going to stop me from representing my constituents,” Swalwell said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “MAGA Republicans have chosen violence over voting and this is what it looks like. But I’m not going away and neither should you.”

Shapiro previously pleaded guilty to threatening a member of Congress through voicemails in 2019.