BOCA RATON, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — A man accused of making threats against Florida Atlantic University and a Boca Raton professor was arrested on a felony warrant and booked into the Palm Beach County jail, records show.
The investigation dates back to March 31, 2025, when Florida Atlantic University Police Department dispatchers received two phone calls from an unidentified male caller. According to a warrant request, the caller made threats directed at the university and referenced Dr. Steven D. Roper by name.
Dr. Roper is a Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University. He also serves as the department’s Director of Graduate Studies and is the Academic Director of the FAU Florida Legislative Internship Program.
The warrant narrative states the caller demanded the university remove Dr. Roper and warned that violence would follow if that did not happen. The threats were not limited to an individual, investigators wrote, but extended to the campus and students more broadly.
FAU police traced the calls to a phone number and linked the incident to a prior FAU police case from 2024, according to the same records. As part of the investigation, detectives interviewed Dr. Roper in person.
During that interview, investigators played audio recordings of the calls received by dispatch on March 31. Dr. Roper identified the voice on the calls as that of his brother, Justin Douglas Roper, according to the warrant request.
Investigators also reviewed voicemail messages left for Dr. Roper during the same period. The warrant describes the messages as escalating in tone, with repeated threats and references to traveling to Florida. Some of the voicemails included threats directed at Dr. Roper and members of his family, the report states.
The warrant documentation also notes that the suspect made additional allegations in those messages. Those statements are presented in the report as claims made by the caller and are not established facts. The affidavit states the suspect accused his brother of serious criminal conduct and claimed he had been removed from their father’s will, allegations investigators documented as part of the threat investigation.
Based on the investigation, FAU police sought felony charges under Florida law. Court records show an information was filed in June 2025 alleging threats or extortion under Florida Statute 836.05(1). The case also references an additional felony count related to aggravated stalking after an injunction, as outlined in the probable cause narrative.
The court docket reflects a series of procedural steps that followed, including the issuance of a capias and the signing of a warrant in June 2025. The case was assigned to a circuit felony division.
On Jan. 30, 2026, Justin Douglas Roper, 53, was arrested on the felony warrant and booked into the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center, according to jail records.
The charge listed on the booking record is extortion or threatening another person, a felony under Florida Statute 836.05(1).
As the case moves forward, the allegations remain limited to what is outlined in the warrant and charging documents: that threatening communications were made toward Florida Atlantic University and a specific faculty member, prompting a felony investigation that ultimately led to an arrest months later.
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