Judge bans Boca-area parent from buying, possessing guns after antisemitic comments, threats

A judge has issued an order preventing a Boca Raton man from purchasing or possessing guns after he was banned from the campus of Whispering Pines Elementary for making antisemitic comments and threats toward its staff at the school last month.

The man, who was arrested Thursday, Aug. 29 , on unrelated charges of burglary and voyeurism, would be a "significant danger" to himself or others if he were to be allowed to buy or possess guns, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office detectives wrote in a petition for what is known as a risk-protection order on the same day.

Traditionally, the order would result in the man forfeiting any firearms he owned, but police did not list any known weapons in the man's possession.

The Palm Beach Post is not identifying the man to protect the privacy of his child, who attends Whispering Pines. The man will appear in court on Tuesday, Sept. 10, where Circuit Judge Donald Hafele will determine whether to extend the temporary order banning him from owning guns by as much as a year.

The order is the latest development in a saga that elementary school parents around the predominantly Jewish community have called terrifying and distressing. More than 130 students were absent from school following circulation of the man's numerous social media posts, in which, deputies say, he expressed his hatred of Jewish people and referenced killing a bird at Whispering Pines.

More: Absences double at Whispering Pines elementary school after parent banned

Whispering Pines Principal Barbara Riemer banned the man from campus after he came into the school's front office on Aug. 16, took photos of the inside of the school building and said loudly, "We eat our own in Boca" while he was waiting to pick up his son from class, according to new details provided by PBSO's petition to obtain the risk protection order.

A school police officer walked the man and his son out to the man's bicycle. When the officer asked what he meant by his comments inside, the man turned to the officer and asked, "Want me to eat you?"

Riemer told parents in an email on Aug. 26 that the man did not pose a specific threat to students at the school.

But the man was ultimately arrested two weeks later.

On Aug. 29, the man was seen peering into the windows and recording something on his phone at a home directly across the street from the school. After police confirmed with the people living at the home that they didn't know the man or invite him over, a sheriff's office lieutenant arrested the man.

While in the back of the police car, the man began to yell "death to America" and make threats toward a sheriff's office detective who was there, the petition said. Officers brought the man to a hospital, where he was involuntarily detained for a mental health assessment under the state's Baker Act.

More: Boca-area elementary school bans parent after threats to staff, anti-Semitic remarks

Boca Raton parent has been involuntarily detained for mental health treatment three times since 2021

The incident on Aug. 29 was the third time in the past three years that the man had been detained under the Baker Act, the risk protection order states.

In September 2021, the man was arrested at a gas station in Broward County after walking up to a marked police car and making a gun gesture with his hand toward the officer inside, the order says. He then reached behind him as if trying to grab a weapon. While he was being arrested, the man yelled names at the officers and was taken to a nearby hospital for psychiatric treatment.

Later that same month, police committed the man to treatment at Delray Medical Center after he attacked his father with a lamp. The father told police at the time that the man deals with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his military service. It was unclear when or if the man served in the military.

After his arrest this year, when police made contact with the man's estranged wife, she said she'd separated from him three years ago because he hit and choked her, according to police records. The man's wife now lives separately with her father and her son in Boca Raton.

From the arrest: Update: Parent banned from Boca-area school arrested on unrelated voyeurism charge

Whispering Pines Elementary installing screens around campus after concern about parent's antisemitic posts

Following the man's Aug. 29 arrest, Riemer called the man's comments on social media "abhorrent" and shared more information about security efforts on campus.

"A noticeable increase in police presence will remain in place," the principal wrote Aug. 29. "Today, you may have noticed that we are installing fence screening for the visually-open areas of the campus. Each Whispering Pines team member remains vigilant and will immediately report any suspicious activity or individuals on or near campus."

Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.co m. Help support our work; subscribe today!

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Judge bans Boca-area parent from buying, possessing guns after antisemitic comments, threats