Blogger Javier Manjarres arrested on attempted murder charge

manjarres, javier - mugshot

Broward County Sheriffs arrested a prominent Florida political blogger on a charge of attempted murder.

Javier Manjarres, known in political circles as the publisher of The Shark Tank blog, was detained by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday. According to an arrest form provided to FloridaPolitics.com by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the 43-year-old was charged with one count of attempted murder and two counts of burglary conveyance with battery.

According to police, Manjarres was arrested for leaving his sister’s boyfriend, Jason Holowinski, with a broken nose and bullet holes in his pickup truck.

As noted in the police report the incident began when Manjarres’ sister and Holowinski, had an argument earlier in the evening. Holowinski went to pick up Manjarres’ sister at a Boca Raton shopping plaza, opening the passenger door for her.

Manjarres then appeared, stepping into Holowinski’s truck and reportedly hit him in the face with his fist “four to five times.” Holowinski told police he saw Manjarres reach for something in his waistband, so he put his truck in reverse to get away.

While backing up, he struck Manjarres’ car.

As he was trying to accelerate, Holowinski reported to police hearing three gunshots. Holowinski then drove to his brother’s house in North Lauderdale. He went to University Hospital in Tamarac by ambulance.

Police arrested Manjarres after going to his Pompano Beach home and discovering the damaged car.

This is not his first run-in with the law. According to a Jan. 19, 2012 report in the Miami New Times, Manjarres was arrested in June 1995 for burglary with assault. Manjarres allegedly drove to the home of a man who was at the time dating Manjarres ex-girlfriend.

The Miami New Times reported that, according to a Palm Beach County police report, Manjarres broke down the man’s front door and punched him. The man suffered bruises and a busted lip. The newspaper said Manjarres pleaded guilty and served two years of probation.

Manjarres’ earned a notorious reputation in conservative circles for launching relentless attacks on candidates who failed to toe the Tea Party line, earning him the Conservative Political Action Conference 2011 blogger of the year award. Manjarres was also well-known throughout the industry for insistence on pay-for-play advertising in exchange for favorable coverage.

Manjarres is listed as one of Tampa Bay Times political editor Adam Smith‘s “political insiders” and is regularly cited by POLITICO Florida.

One infamous episode included Manjarres capturing a handheld video of Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz accusing then-President George W. Bush of facilitating Hamas’s rise to power in the Gaza Strip. He also filmed Nezar Hamze from the Council on American-Islamic Relations arguing with former Congressman Allen West, demanding the Tea Party darling point out where the Koran orders calls for death to Americans.

Among those Manjarres regularly fought include leaders in the Broward County GOP, calling for the removal of Broward executive committee members, who banned him from videotaping the county party’s monthly meetings.

Proving that he was readily willing to attack his own, Manjarres later blasted U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in 2013 for his “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” which was making way in the Senate at the time. Manjarres decried the bill as an extra burden on an “already debt-ridden” country. Rubio was elected just two years earlier as part of the Tea Party wave.

“According to the newly filed bill, immigrants who are allowed to enter the United States on a work visa will be ‘granted’ a taxpayer funded cellular phone,” Manjarres wrote. “Move over ‘Obama phone,’ we present the new ‘Hola, Como Estas?!’ MarcoPhone.”

The outrageous accusation was immediately discredited by Rubio and his supporters, who clarified the phones were part of a program to supply phones to ranchers and locals residing along the border.

A prodigious user of social media, Manjarres’ Twitter account features a photo of him sitting next to Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz and Sean Hannity of Fox News.

Here is Manjarres’ Broward County short arrest information:

manjarres

Peter Schorsch

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including Florida Politics and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. Schorsch is also the publisher of INFLUENCE Magazine. For several years, Peter's blog was ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.


3 comments

  • Justin Time

    March 29, 2016 at 8:54 am

    Did the sister press charges against the boyfriend for trying to strangle her, then he dumps her off in a plaza? I think Javier was defending her, albeit to an extreme….sounds like there is more to the story…..

  • Lyn

    March 29, 2016 at 2:23 pm

    For those of us who know the law, you are innocent until proven guilty – although most times I feel people are treated guilty until proven innocent. Additionally, these are not formal charges, but simply allegations off a probable cause affidavit to hold him in custody. The truth will come out and until then, I believe that we should not jump to conclusions. People get falsely accused all of the time. I truly do not believe such a respected, straight-edge man would jeopardize not only his life, but his upstanding career, and family. For those of you who know Javier, you/we should be sticking together at this time as we know what an upstanding citizen he truly is and always has been.

  • One of Javier's Victem

    April 3, 2016 at 3:14 pm

    This guy is a extremely sick individual. Online he’s know as a blogger.. In REAL LIFE he is a well know stalker. These are not allegations as “Lyn” (Javier’s GF) has stated in the comment above. This guy is very dangerous especially when he is on one of his Crack Cocaine binges.

Comments are closed.


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