Harry Shapiro

Who is Harry Shapiro?

Harry Shapiro is a convicted criminal who pleaded guilty on March 20, 1997, to federal charges that he had planted a pipe bomb at a Jacksonville, Florida, synagogue. Shapiro was 31-years-old at the time of his plea and admitted "using an explosive to threaten a foreign official, internationally protected person and official guest of the United States Government."

On February 13, 1997, about three hours before former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres was supposed to speak in support of the Oslo Accords at the Jacksonville Jewish Center, Shapiro called the Jacksonville Sheriff's office claiming to be a member of American Friends of the Islamic Jihad and warned of two bombs at the center. The building was evacuated and searched, but no bombs were found. Shapiro told his rabbi and a co-worker at the gas station where he worked of his plan to prevent Peres from speaking, but his claim was dismissed until a gunpowder laden pipe was found nine days later by children playing at the Center; it was then detonated by the police. Shapiro told the court March 19: "I placed gunpowder in a pipe. I placed it in a house of worship. I threatened a life of a human being with it.