A Texas woman has been charged and ordered held after she allegedly threatened a U.S. judge overseeing one of the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump.
Abigail Jo Shry, 43, is facing a charge of threatening to injure or kill another person in interstate commerce after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found out she left a threatening voicemail for U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), according to charging documents.
Ms. Shry was quoted as saying in the message, “hey you stupid slave [expletive]” and threatening to kill anyone who went after President Trump, including Ms. Lee. Both Judge Chutkan, appointed under President Barack Obama, and Ms. Lee are black.
“You are in our sights, we want to kill you,” Ms. Shry allegedly said. “If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, [expletive].”
DHS agents went to Ms. Shry’s home in Alvin to ask her about the voicemail and Ms. Shry told agents she was the person who left the voicemail, according to charging documents. Mr. Shry said that she did not plan to travel to Washington or Houston to act on the threats but that if Ms. Lee traveled to Alvin, then agents needed to worry.
A federal defender appointed to represent Mr. Shry did not respond to requests for comment. The office of Ms. Lee declined to comment.
The case was first reported by Bloomberg.
In a hearing on Aug. 16, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sam Sheldon ordered Ms. Shry held pending trial.
Ms. Shry has already been charged multiple other times for similar conduct, and was convicted in two of the cases. She served 30 days in prison.
Ms. Shry has a history of major depression and substance abuse, according to the judge, with her father testifying that she drinks an excessive amount of beer on a daily basis. Mark Shry, the father, testified that his daughter often sits on the couch watching television and becomes agitated as she watches the news. Ms. Shry never leaves her home so she would not carry out the threats she made, Mr. Shry said.
“Defendant’s aggressive and threatening behavior has continually escalated during the past year as evidenced by her criminal conduct in four separate cases. She advised U.S. Probation that she is not interested in receiving any substance abuse or mental health services. To the contrary, the court strongly believes that defendant needs to receive inpatient substance abuse therapy and mental health treatment. These services, however, will not be effective unless defendant truly wishes to receive them,” Mr. Sheldon wrote in a detention order. “Therefore, the court orders that defendant should remain in custody ... to reasonably assure the safety of any other person or the community.”
Criminal Case
Judge Chutkan is overseeing the case against President Trump in Washington over his allegedly illegal efforts to challenge the 2020 election. President Trump has suggested Judge Chutkan to recuse from the case, describing her as “highly partisan” and “very biased and unfair.”President Trump referenced how the judge, when sentencing a man who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, said in part that the people who entered the building “were there in fealty, in loyalty to one man, not to the Constitution” and that “it’s blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.”
Judge Chutkan has also entered multiple sentences against Jan. 6 defendants that are longer than what prosecutors requested.
A formal request for recusal has not been entered.
Prosecutors have requested the trial in the case start in January 2024, while President Trump has floated waiting until after the 2024 election.
President Trump is running for a third time after winning the 2016 election and losing to President Joe Biden in 2020.
Illinois Woman Charged
In another recent case, Illinois resident Tracy Marie Fiorenza was charged with threatening to shoot both President Trump and the former president’s youngest child, Barron Trump.Ms. Fiorenza emailed the headmaster of an educational institution in Palm Beach County, where the Trumps reside, and said, according to charging documents, she would “shoot Donald Trump Sr. AND Barron Trump straight in the face at any opportunity I get!”
She also penned another threatening email to the same institution.
The case was first reported by Court Watch.
The U.S. Secret Service contacted Ms. Fiorenza and during an interview, she admitted writing the threats, government officials said.
No lawyer for Ms. Fiorenza was listed on the docket.
Ms. Fiorenza is also facing a charge of threatening to injure another person in interstate commerce.
The charges carries a prison sentence of up to five years.
