HOMESTEAD, FLA. (WSVN) - A young South Florida man who admitted to making threats toward Republican U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo is being given a second chance.
Nineteen-year-old Pierre Verges-Castro stood side-by-side with Curbelo at a press conference inside the Homestead Police Department, Thursday afternoon.
“This was a young man who really didn’t have any intention of doing what he wrote,” Curbelo said, “and who felt terribly about it.”
Verges-Castro was arrested on Friday after he was accused of posting to Twitter, “I will kill Carlos Curbelo.”
The politician said he let the State Attorney know that he has no interest in pressing charges against the 19-year-old after the two sat down to talk.
Verges-Castro decided not to speak at the conference because the case was still open. Curbelo hopes the State Attorney will be as lenient as possible on the young man.
“We simply cannot continue down this path,” Curbelo said. “Political opponents are people we disagree with, not people we hate.”
The political candidate made the decision to forgive while he’s locked in a tight race with Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who also made an appearance in Homestead.
“Because regardless of who you are, where you come from, where you live, every person deserves a chance at a better life right here in the United States of America,” Mucarsel-Powell said at a rally, Thursday.
Voters will decide on Nov. 6 between the two candidates for who will represent the 26th Congressional District.
“I’m here because I am asking all of you to please go out and vote,” Mucarsel-Powell said.
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