Isaac Nformangum, 22, became a wanted fugitive from the law after failing to show in court on Friday, following his arrest and subsequent release on a personal recognizance bond for an alleged series of threats he made over the phone to Senator Ted Cruz.
A personal recognizance bond is a written promise by a defendant to the court that they will show up at their next hearing or trial date. No cash or property is required to be put up as collateral to motivate attendance, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office website.
It is unclear why Nformangum was released on a personal recognizance bond on July 3. As reported by The Dallas Express, he had a court date scheduled for July 8. He failed to appear, prompting the issuance of a warrant for his arrest.
The Houston-area man allegedly placed the phone call to Sen. Cruz’s Houston office, making threats against the senator and other Texas Republicans over the contents of the 2022 Texas Republican platform on June 26.
A transcript of the call was included in court documents accessed by KPRC 2:
“Hello and good afternoon, Senator Rafael (Ted Cruz). This is one of the many Afro-American constituents of whom you are representative of here in Texas, as you currently serve from the Senate. [Sigh] I have just read the, uh, Texas Republican party’s platform for this current 2022 year, uh, wherein it is apparent that your colleagues intent, intend to have the voting rights act repealed and not reauthorized?”
The caller continued:
“Every last one of your Republican colleagues to have signed off on that platform … is to be found and killed, be it by a bullet to the face or by the smashing of a brick in your skull. It is a civic duty of every American citizen or resident to see to it that every last one of your colleagues is to be killed. Killed. Be it by finding you in a public space or by trailing you to … your very public homes.”
U.S. Capitol police notified the Harris County Sheriff’s Office of the alleged threat the next day.
Sheriff’s deputies determined that the phone number that made the call was registered to a woman with the last name of Nformangum.
During the investigation, deputies located Isaac Nformangum’s Instagram account and discovered a YouTube video where he could be heard speaking. The voice in the video allegedly matched the voice on the phone call, according to the sheriff’s office, per KPRC 2.
Nformangum was subsequently arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat, an elective third-degree felony in Texas with a potential prison sentence of between two and 10 years.
He remains at large. As of Tuesday, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office has not indicated whether Nformangum is considered armed or dangerous.