Convicted felon in Gaza - pretending to be a US congressman

From Ma'an:

US Congressman Jack Shepherd entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, the de facto border commission said.

Shepherd was received by members of the A'tta Mother and Child Society upon his arrival. The congressman will be in the coastal enclave for a two-day visit organized by the society.

The visit will include tours to hospitals, schools and other areas destroyed by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead in December 2008.

The A'tta Mother and Child Society is the first of its kind in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Firas Press reports on this visit by this member of Congress as well.

Unfortunately, there is no representative with that name in Congress.

Thank God for the Internet, though, as I was able to find exactly who this important official is. In fact, Jack Shepard has run for the Senate in Minnesota, not to mention governor - and President!

Jack Shepard (Italy / Minnesota)

STATUS: ANNOUNCED CANDIDATE. Dr. Jack Shepard is a USAF veteran and dentist ... and a convicted felon (narcotics possession) who fled as a fugitive to Italy to avoid trial in Minnesota when he became the suspect in the arson of his dental office. Claiming he was wrongly convicted in the drug case and wrong accused in the arson, Shepard continues -- from Rome, Italy -- to run as a candidate for federal political office in Minnesota to bring attention to his demand that the conviction be overturned and the arson charge dropped. He says the drug conviction should be overturned because dentists can have narcotics in their offices and that he is innocent on the arson charges. "I never broke the law," Shepard posted on one political website. The US government has never formally requested his extradition from the Italian government, although then-prosecutor Amy Klobuchar -- now US Senator -- requested the Feds seek his return. Shepard lost a GOP primary run for US Senate in 2002 and Congress in 2004 and 2006. In his campaigns -- waged on his websites and in emails to Minnesota newspapers -- accused various Democrats of either being tied to encouraging "the Terrorists" or being "owned" by "the Israel Lobby." Related links: Shepard for President (official site), ShepardUSGov.com (Congressional campaign site), and People for Peace Group (Shepard's organization).

And now he is scamming Palestinian Arabs!