(ConservativeSense.com) – A man was arrested in December for threatening to kill a lawmaker and his family. Californian Rep. Eric Swalwell was the target of the threatening calls in which a man said, “I’m gonna kill your children,” along with a host of other threats. He also called the lawmaker “a Chinese spy” and mentioned the name “Fang Fang” repeatedly. Police have since arrested a 72-year-old Florida resident, Michael Shapiro, in connection with the calls.
A Department of Justice report on the incidents states, “On December 19, 2023, Michael Shapiro left five voicemail messages for a US Congressperson at the Congressperson’s congressional office in Washington, DC.”
Last year, Mr. Swalwell posted a recording of one such call on his Twitter account and accused Donald Trump and “MAGA Republicans” of “stoking violent rhetoric.” While he received some sympathy, others pointed out that similar abuse is directed at Republicans and without condemnation from Democrats.
One Twitter user responded with a screenshot from “anti-racism activist” Tim Wise, calling for Republican children to be made “functional orphans,” while another asked if Swalwell was concerned when GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene received similar threats.
On December 21, Ms. Taylor Greene posted a message she had received from a user named Ben McLean, who threatened her with a “high-velocity projectile” that would “find its way into her cranium.”
The mention of “Fang Fang” in the calls to Swalwell refers to the Congressman’s relationship with a Chinese spy named Christine Fang, which the Congressional Ethics Committee investigated. Fang arrived in the US as a student in 2011 and reportedly spent several years forming personal relationships with political figures to obtain sensitive information for the Chinese Communist Party.
Fang worked on Swalwell’s Congressional campaign, and the pair were seen together numerous times. In 2015, the FBI warned him that she may be a spy, and he cut all contact with her. Nevertheless, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy removed Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee as a resul
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