{"id":435688,"date":"2026-10-23T06:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T06:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/435688\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T06:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T06:44:18","slug":"boca-raton-resident-arrested-after-alleged-threat-to-moskowitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/435688\/","title":{"rendered":"Boca Raton resident arrested after alleged threat to Moskowitz"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Boca Raton resident was arrested Thursday after threatening<\/a> U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, the congressman announced.<\/p>\n

Just after 2:30 p.m., Moskowitz wrote in a post on X<\/a>: \u201cA constituent of mine has just been arrested in Boca, just a few miles from my house, for threatening my life. He is currently in the Palm Beach County jail. I\u2019m grateful to @fdlepio and local law enforcement for acting quickly to keep myself and my family safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moskowitz told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that \u201ca gentleman left a message on our voicemail threatening me, saying he wanted to slit my throat.\u201d He said he provided the voice message, which had been left on Thursday at his official congressional office on Sample Road in Coral Springs, to law enforcement, who traced the call.<\/p>\n

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement did not respond to an email or voicemail seeking further information.<\/p>\n

Rep. Jared Moskowitz becomes latest Jewish lawmaker to reveal antisemitic threats<\/a><\/p>\n

Moskowitz, a Democrat, is running against<\/a> Republican nominee former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer in the newly reconfigured 25th Congressional District. The two candidates, who are both Jewish, on Tuesday night debated<\/a> at a synagogue in Boca Raton with a heavy police and security presence. They were asked to elaborate on how they have combatted antisemitism and plan to continue doing so.<\/p>\n

Moskowitz answered: \u201cWell, I\u2019ll tell you, listen, you don\u2019t have to listen to me on what I\u2019ve done fighting antisemitism, standing up for Israel. Listen to the antisemites who are trying to kill me, right? My wife is here. We have police outside our house 24 hours a day now. The security that\u2019s going on in here tonight is for me, and the mayor, and you all, but it\u2019s a lot for me. I can\u2019t go anywhere now without security because of the work I\u2019ve done fighting antisemitism and the voice that I\u2019ve had on the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singer later in the debate said he has received death threats previously as well. He replied<\/a> to Moskowitz\u2019s post on X on Thursday afternoon: \u201cViolence and threats of violence have no place in our politics, and I am grateful that the police have arrested the suspect. No one looking to serve should live in fear. Many friends and I have also faced death threats. Disagreement should not lead to hatred, extremism, or violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CongressionalFormer Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, left, and U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, right, participate in a Congressional District 25 candidate forum with South Florida Sun Sentinel political reporter Anthony Man, center, at Congregation B\u2019nai Israel in Boca Raton on Tuesday. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Moskowitz told the Sun Sentinel on Thursday police are constantly stationed at his home.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything that\u2019s scheduled, I have to have security with me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In November 2024, police discovered that Moskowitz\u2019s name<\/a> was included on a Margate resident\u2019s \u201chit list\u201d while responding to a call<\/a> at the man\u2019s home. At John Lapinski Jr.\u2019s home, police found a list<\/a> of synagogues, Jewish businesses and Moskowitz\u2019s name, along with six different guns and a large stock of ammunition. Lapinski was sentenced to 25 years<\/a> in federal prison last year.<\/p>\n

In a written statement Thursday, Moskowitz\u2019s office said of Lapinski\u2019s threat: \u201cFollowing the incident, Congressman Moskowitz and his family have been under heightened security protection, including a law enforcement presence at their residence and additional security measures during public appearances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police discovered potential Moskowitz threat seemingly by chance. Would they be able to do it again?<\/a><\/p>\n

Moskowitz told the Sun Sentinel he informed his wife, Leah, and children about Thursday\u2019s incident, as he does \u201cevery time this happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI spare my kids the details. I have to tell my kids because they see the increase in police at the house, right? I give my wife the details, sometimes I spare her stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Separate threat a week ago<\/p>\n

Just last week, in a separate and unrelated incident, Republican state Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, whose District 91 includes Boca Raton, received a threatening voicemail at her office from a Boca Raton resident who said, \u201cStop sending me so much [expletive] mail. I\u2019m going to slit your [expletive] throat if you send me another piece of this trash,\u201d according to a probable cause affidavit.<\/p>\n

The man, identified in court records as Luke Schlauder, 25, allegedly left the representative multiple voicemails with threats on Oct. 12, according to the affidavit, and told Boca Raton Police he made the calls because he was \u201cjust really tired of receiving the mailers\u201d from the representative\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

He faces one count of written or electronic threats to kill or do bodily harm to another and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communications device. He has not yet entered a plea to the charges. Palm Beach County jail records say he is on in-house arrest.<\/p>\n

Gossett-Seidman told the Sun Sentinel she was \u201cshocked\u201d to hear that Moskowitz received a similar voicemail within a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one talks like that, not even in Halloween horror movies,\u201d she said. \u201cThe tone and tenor of the person threatening me was horrid and just totally vile \u2026 I think people have lost their minds, and I feel badly for Rep. Moskowitz. We should not have to go through this, trying to serve our districts.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of late Thursday, no law enforcement agency has indicated the threats against Gossett Seidman and Moskowitz are related.<\/p>\n

Widespread suspicious mailings<\/p>\n

As midterm Election Day approaches, Congress members across the country have reported receiving suspicious envelopes and packages, prompting FBI investigations. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, earlier this week received a suspicious mailing<\/a> at her office in Sunrise.<\/p>\n

In a written statement, the congresswoman said the incident was \u201cclearly designed to intimidate me and my staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile initial tests were negative for any hazardous material, law enforcement will do further analysis as they continue their larger investigation\u201d into the similar mailings around the country, the statement said.<\/p>\n

Last week, suspicious packages were received in the mail at the offices of Central Florida congressmen Maxwell Frost and Darren Soto as well, the Orlando Sentinel reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is a developing story, so check back for updates.\u00a0Click here<\/a>\u00a0to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Boca Raton resident was arrested Thursday after threatening U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, the congressman announced. Just after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3337,506,112,28,30,29,114,266,115,557,99,109],"class_list":["post-435688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-boca-raton","tag-broward-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-palm-beach-county","tag-politics","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}