Homeless man from Tel Aviv arrested on suspicion of threatening Knesset member: "stinking leftist" • Court released him under restrictive conditions
Knesset Member Shapiro // Photo: Tzachi Miriam
Police arrested a 42-year-old suspect from a homeless home in Tel Aviv on suspicion of threatening Knesset member Autumn Shafir on Instagram.
This is a case that began a month ago when the Knesset security officer filed a complaint with the police that Knesset Member Shafir had received threats via Instagram saying "I will slaughter you". In addition, he wrote: "I will stab you, stink smolder."
The police launched an investigation, but since it was a fake Instagram account, it took time for the police to locate him. Yesterday, police arrived on the suspect, who denied being attributed to him.
At the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court hearing this morning, the defendant's attorney said it was Homeless, a patient with Asperger's disease, and that he couldn't be threatened by Instagram since he didn't own a smartphone. However, at the hearing it became clear that the threat was made via a computer and not over the phone.
The defense counsel sought to release him under lenient conditions, since it is a homelessness that is very difficult to meet with a disability allowance of NIS 2,000.
Magistrate Anat Yahav accepted the defense's motion, though it held that there was a reasonable suspicion of the transfers by the suspect: "The fact that this was an allegedly committed offense a month ago cannot be ignored, and no other such offenses have been committed since then," she said. In addition, the judge banned contacting those involved in the case for two months.
At the end of the hearing, it was decided to release the suspect under restrictive conditions.
