Expand / Collapse search
☰

Florida man indicted for anti-Muslim hate crime threats against CAIR in Canton

By and David Komer
Published  March 5, 2024 1:16pm EST
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

Florida man who made racist death threats about Muslims to CAIR in Canton, charged

Amy Doukoure is the staff attorney with CAIR says the frightening calls were coming from a blocked number, starting in early December.

FOX 2 (WJBK) - A West Palm Beach man was indicted by a grand jury for making repeated threats to the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan Chapter.

Michael Shapiro of West Palm Beach, Florida, was charged for allegedly placing three separate phone calls to CAIR’s office located in Canton, and left threatening voicemails, said US Attorney Dawn Ison on Tuesday.

Shapiro, 72, was charged with three counts of transmitting threats in interstate commerce after an investigation by the Canton Police Department and the FBI.

"It was really scary - he was laughing maniacally - like it was something right out of a horror movie frankly," said Amy Doukoure, attorney for CAIR. "He left a total of five messages - all of them saying go back to palestine - why are you in my country - I'm going to kill you - a lot of cursing - it was actually terrifying."

Doukoure is the staff attorney with CAIR says the frightening calls were coming from a blocked number, starting in early December.

"We had no idea who the person was - he could have been around the corner - he could have been in the parking lot."

His recorded messages included the following:

December 8, 2023: "I’m going to kill you bastards. I’m going to kill you bastards."

December 14, 2023: ""I’m going to kill you m****r f*****g bastards. Muslims! I’m going to kill you m****r f*****s. I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you!"

December 15, 2023: "You’re a violent people. Why do you come to America? Why do you come to Europe? M***** f******. You’re violent. You’re killers. You’re rapists. I’m going to kill you m****r f*****s!"

CAIR called Canton police who stepped up patrols and contacted the FBI.

"There was about three weeks that nobody was working from the office because we just were uncertain as to what was going to happen," Doukoure said.

The indictment also alleges that Shapiro intentionally selected the victim of his threats because of the actual and perceived religion and national origin of the people who work at and are assisted by CAIR.

"Luckily for us there was no violence but there were threats of violence that echo language that was coming out of Israeli propaganda calling Muslims animals," Doukoure said.

"Certainly since October 7th we've seen a rise in hate crimes against Muslims and Jewish folks, so we are remaining vigilant so that we respond to them all," said US Attorney Dawn Ison.

Ison says in January that Shapiro was charged with threatening to kill a member of Congress and their children - in 2019 - he faced charges for threatening other politicians as well.

If convicted, Shapiro faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the 3 counts. If convicted, a federal court judge would determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, said the US Attorney's Office in a release.