ALVIN, TEXAS: A Texas woman has been facing criminal charges after threatening to kill federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case in Washington, DC.
Abigail Jo Shry was arrested after she allegedly called the federal courthouse in Washington and left a threatening message for Chutkan on August 5, as per a criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Texas.
''Hey, you stupid slave (N-word),'' Shry said in the message, which she left at the judge's chambers at 7:50 pm, according to Department of Homeland Security officials.
The woman then threatened to kill anyone who went against Donald Trump, including Tanya Chutkan and US Rep Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat running for mayor of Houston, according to the NY Post.
In addition, she set her sights on ''all Democrats in Washington DC and all people in the LGBTQ community.'' ''You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it,'' she added.
Three days later, DHS conducted a “knock and talk” at Shry’s home, where she admitted to making threatening phone calls.
During the conversation, she claimed to officers that she had no plans to go to Washington but said if Lee came to Alvin, ''then we need to worry.''
Who is Abigail Jo Shry?
Shry is a 43-year-old Alvin native, who has been charged with transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure the person of another–a felony with a maximum prison term of up to five years, according to Daily Mail.
Court documents show that she has been charged four times in the last year on similar charges and has been jailed 30 times
When Shry threatened Tanya Chutkan, she was out on bond on a July 11 charge of misdemeanor threat causing fear of imminent serious bodily injury.
Court records show Shry is represented by the Houston public defender´s office, which did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Wednesday. Shry is scheduled to appear at a full bond hearing on September 13.
Why did Donald Trump attack Tanya Chutkan?
Tanya Chutkan is a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama.
She is currently overseeing a case where Donald Trump is accused of conspiring to reverse his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump previously assailed Chutkan, calling her ''highly partisan'' and ''VERY BIASED & UNFAIR!'' because of her past comments in a separate case overseeing the sentencing of one of the defendants charged in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
Chutkan issued a protection order in the case on Friday, restricting the amount of evidence provided by the prosecution that the former president and his defense team may publicly discuss.
She warned Trump´s lawyers that his defense should be mounted in the courtroom and ''not on the internet.''
Chutkan also warned the former president's lawyers he could face a faster trial if he keeps making ''inflammatory'' statements that could taint the jury pool.
