The Philadelphia man charged yesterday with threatening to kill Rep. Eric Cantor has been in trouble with the law before: back in June 2009, he was arrested for saying during an argument that he would have the angel Gabriel kill his roommate, the Philadelphia police tell TPM.
Norman Leboon, 38, who has made scores of YouTube videos targeting various political figures under the name “shiamuslimcantbestop,” was charged last June with simple assault, terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, and recklessly endangering another person, according to court records.
Philadelphia Police Department spokeswoman Christine O’Brien described the incident report from the June episode in an interview with TPM. The following is what the police report describes, according to O’Brien:
Leboon and John Hopkins, who live together in the Frankford section of northeastern Philadelphia, got into an argument because Hopkins wanted to confront a neighbor who was seen publicly urinating. Leboon did not want Hopkins to say anything; the two began to argue, and the fight escalated.
Finally, Leboon, who the police report says “believes he is Mehdi, who is god’s messenger on Earth,” said that he would have Gabriel the angel kill his Hopkins.
(Visited by federal agents this past Saturday investigating the alleged Cantor death threat, Leboon said that he is “son of the god of Enoch”, according to an affidavit in the case.)
Leboon was arrested on June 14, arraigned in Philadelphia Municipal Court at about 1 a.m. June 15, and posted bail later that day, according to court records.
On July 28, a bench warrant was issued after he failed to appear in court.
The still-active bench warrant helped FBI agents find and identify Leboon as they were investigating the alleged Cantor threat over the weekend, according to the affidavit.
Leboon was also charged with disorderly conduct last October, but details of that incident were not immediately available.
