Texas woman charged for threats against congresswoman, judge in Jan. 6 case, feds say
A statue of Lady Justice in a courtroom in the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas Thursday December 18, 2018.© Andy Jacobsohn/The Dallas Morning News/TNS
A43-year-old Texas woman is accused of making threats to a congresswoman and the federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s trial in the Jan. 6 case.
A little before 8 p.m. Aug. 5, federal authorities said Abigail Jo Shry called the federal courthouse in Washington D.C. and used a racial slur directed toward U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is Black.
Texas woman charged for threats against congresswoman, judge in Jan. 6 case, feds say
Authorities wrote in a criminal complaint that Shry issued threats in the call to anyone “who went after former President Trump” and made threats to U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston; all Democrats in Washington D.C.; and the LGBTQ community. Shry said, “you are in our sights” and made threats to harm people “if Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024,” the complaint read.
“You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it,” a criminal complaint read.
Chutkan is the judge randomly assigned to preside over Trump’s case in which he faces criminal charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. She has also presided over cases for people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Trump has repeatedly made attacks against Chutkan. Two days ago, he posted on Truth Social saying “she obviously wants me behind bars” and is “very biased and unfair.”
Texas woman charged for threats against congresswoman, judge in Jan. 6 case, feds say
According to the complaint, Shry said the phone number belonged to her and that she did make the call to Chutkan’s chambers. She told authorities she had no plans to travel to Washington D.C. or Houston to carry out threats and added that if Rep. Lee comes to Alvin, “then we need to worry.”
Shry is accused of violating U.S. federal criminal codes and is facing a charge of transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of any communication containing a threat to injure the person or another. Court records show the federal public defender’s office in Houston is appointed to represent her. The office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A judge on Thursday ordered her to remain in federal custody for the next 30 days, adding that Shry has been charged four times in the past year for engaging in similar conduct. Her father testified at her detention hearing two days prior: “she sits on her couch daily watching the news while drinking too many beers,” court records show.
He said she then becomes agitated and starts calling people and threatening them but she never leaves her home and wouldn’t act upon her threats.
Shry has a hearing scheduled for Sept. 13 to determine whether she should be released from custody pending a trial, records show.
Aside from the case in Washington D.C., Trump, a 2024 hopeful, is facing criminal charges in Florida, New York and Georgia. The most recent charges came on Monday when a Georgia grand jury issued an indictment against him and 18 other people for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state.