JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 26 (JTA) — A former kosher butcher was arrested this week on charges of making a bomb threat and placing a bomb in a Jacksonville synagogue to disrupt a speech by former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Harry Shapiro, a 31-year-old Orthodox Jew who has pursued yeshiva studies and now works at a gas station, turned himself in to police, local authorities said. Bail was set Wednesday at $1 million. Shapiro’s next court appearance was scheduled for March 13.
The Jacksonville Jewish Center had received a bomb threat Feb. 13, shortly before Peres was to appear. But no device was found. Nine days later, three children playing at a Bat Mitzvah reception at the synagogue found a pipe bomb. Police disarmed the device.
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