Special agents with the Department of Homeland Security arrested a Texas woman on Wednesday for allegedly threatening to kill a congresswoman and the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s election interference case.
Abigail Jo Shry, 43, of Alvin, purportedly left a voicemail on August 5 for U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
“Hey you stupid slave n*****,” Shry allegedly said in the voicemail, according to the criminal complaint.
Chutkan was randomly appointed to oversee Trump’s 2020 election interference case after a grand jury indicted the former president for allegedly conspiring to overturn the election, according to NPR.
The voicemail allegedly contained threats of violence.
“You are in our sights, we want to kill you,” said the caller in the voicemail. “If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, b****. … You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it.”
Shry also allegedly threatened to murder every Democrat in Washington D.C., calling out Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) in particular. The criminal complaint further claims she threatened to kill everyone in the LGBTQ community.
Shry allegedly admitted to federal investigators during a “knock and talk” interview on August 8 that she did make multiple phone calls to Judge Chutkan’s chambers, per the criminal complaint.
Although she allegedly admitted to making the calls, the complaint claims that Shry said she had no plans to travel to carry out any of the actions alluded to in the voicemail.
Shry is charged with one count of “communication containing a threat to injure the person of another,” which is a felony with a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Her bond hearing is set for September 13, according to WUSA 9.
Mark Shry, the defendant’s father, testified on her behalf at a detention hearing, claiming she “never leaves her residence and therefore would not act upon her threats.”
“Mr. Shry believes that Defendant is a non-violent alcoholic. He testified that she sits on her couch daily watching the news while drinking too many beers. She then becomes agitated by the news and starts calling people and threatening them,” the court recounted, per Law and Crime.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sam Sheldon also noted that Shry has been charged four times in the past year for similar crimes. At least two of the charges resulted in convictions, WUSA 9 reported.