Woman Seeking Deportation Threatened Gov. Scott's Life, Cops Say

A 36-year-old Celebration pharmacist faces several criminal charges after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said she threatened Gov. Rick Scott’s life while insisting she be sent to Jordan.

Ruba Khandaqji had been brought to the attention of authorities on at least four occasions over the past three months, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The woman, who has a history of mental instability, has been investigated in the past, but her earlier actions were brushed off as benign, the paper noted.

This time around, Khandaqji is accused of calling the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office on Monday and telling dispatchers she was going to hire a hitman to take out anyone she could kill so she could be deported to Jordan, Bay News 9 reported.

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“Your trash governor is torturing me here,” Bay News 9 quoted her as telling the Osceola dispatcher. “I’m forced to live here. I hope that this call is recorded. Pass it to your governor. Tell him she is hiring a hit man.”

It seems that call was enough to get FDLE agents to respond to Khandaqji’s home. Khandaqji allegedly told agents she wasn’t subject to American laws and that the government was holding her against her will. She also described Scott as a “Tea Party terrorist.”

Agents again let the threats slide, but a repeat call from Khandaqji on Tuesday specifically named the governor, resulting in her Wednesday arrest, the Sentinel reported.

Khandaqji was being held in the Osceola County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bond Thursday, according to jail records. It is unclear if she’ll get her wish for deportation to Jordan.

Booking photo courtesy of the Osceola County Jail

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