ALVIN, Texas — An Alvin woman is facing federal charges after threatening to kill the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's case and others, according to court documents.
On Aug. 5 just before 8 p.m., Abigail Jo Shry called the chambers of District of Columbia United States District Judge Tanya Chutkan and went on a threatening rant, court documents say.
Shry started the call by using a racial epithet to reference Chutkan before threatening to "kill anyone who went after former President Trump," court records say.
She also threatened others, the documents say.
"We want to kill Sheila Jackson Lee," Shry said on the call, according to the documents.
Currently, Jackson Lee represents Houston in the U.S. House of Representatives and is also a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and introduced articles of impeachment against Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. She's also announced her intentions to run for Houston mayor later this year.
Both Chutkan and Lee are Black women. Chutkan is a nominee of former President Barack Obama. Earlier this month, she was assigned to oversee the government’s case accusing Trump of conspiring to defraud the United States with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Shry also threatened to kill all Democrats in Washington D.C. and all people in the LGBTQ community, the documents say.
"If Trump doesn't get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly," Shry said on the call, according to the complaint. "You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it."
Investigators traced the call to Shry, and three days later, Homeland Security special agents showed up at her house in Alvin. According to the documents, Shry agreed to questioning and admitted she made the call. She said she had no intentions to go to DC or Houston to carry out anything she said, but did say that if Jackson Lee came to Alvin, "then we need to worry."
The charge that Shry is facing, "Transmission in Interstate of Foreign Commerce of any Communication Containing a Threat to Injure the Person of Another" carries a maximum prison sentence of five years. She saw a federal judge earlier this week, who ordered her to be held without bond. The judge pointed out that Shry had been charged four times in the last year for similar incidents, including two cases in which she was convicted and served jail time. A bond hearing is scheduled for Sept. 13.