POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – A South Florida man was arrested Thursday after he threatened to blow up a mosque in Pompano Beach, authorities said.
The incident was reported at about 4 p.m. Thursday at the Islamic Center of South Florida at 507 NE Sixth St.
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According to an arrest report, Shawkat Mzayek, 38, called the mosque and said, "Your mosque is going to be blown the (expletive) up tonight. We are going to kill all of you and ISIS in America."
Deputies said Mzayek hung up the phone and the person who received the call at the mosque called 911 and evacuated the building.
The director of the mosque, Mihad Sakallah, told Local 10 News that the mosque was preparing to have people come to break their fast for the holy month of Ramadan when the threat was made.
He said there were 10 to 20 people inside the building when the call was made.
Deputies said caller ID linked the phone number to Mzayek's wife, but said Mzayek confirmed that he is the sole user of that phone number.
Detectives said Mzayek told them that he used to be Muslim, but converted to Judaism and believes the Muslim community considers him a "dead man" now.
He said he made the call to the mosque and to a Muslim-owned convenience store in Plantation after he got into an altercation with employees at the store, the report said.
Detectives said Mzayek said that he threatened to burn down the mosque and the store.
He was arrested on a charge of falsely reporting a bomb threat.
Court records show that Mzayek was on probation at the time of the incident for pointing a gun at another driver in a road rage case.