The Volokh Conspiracy
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Woman Pleads Guilty for Threat Left on Voice-Mail of Judge Tanya Chutkan, Who Was Presiding Over Trump's Election Interference Trial
[UPDATE 12/26/2024, 7:36 pm: I erroneously titled this post "woman sentenced for …" (likely because I had been reviewing some other posts about sentencing in other cases), but at this point she has just pleaded guilty; my apologies—I've just corrected this.]
From a Justice Department press release distributed Nov. 13, 2024 but just posted on Westlaw:
A 44-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to transmission in interstate commerce containing a threat to injure the person of another …. Abigail J. Shry admitted that on Aug. 5, 2023, she placed a call to the chambers of a federal judge and made derogatory statements and threats to anyone that went after then former President Donald Trump. She also made a direct threat to a then sitting congresswoman, all democrats in Washington D.C. and all people in the LGBTQ community.
At the hearing, Shry claimed that at the time she made the calls, she did not think it was illegal to do so. She said she thought it was freedom of speech and that she did not intend to act on the threats.
In her calls, Shry stated, "You are in our sights, we want to kill you. If Trump doesn't get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly…" She added that "you will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it."
On Aug. 8, 2023, authorities went to her residence, at which time she admitted the phone number associated with the calls was hers and that she did in fact make the call to the judge's chambers. She noted that she had no plans to travel anywhere to carry out anything she stated. However, she told authorities that if the congresswoman ever traveled to her city, then "we need to worry." …
The press release doesn't mention that the federal judge who had been called was Judge Tanya Chutkan, who had at the time just started presiding over President Trump's election interference trial. Here are the allegations from the indictment (to which Shry pleaded guilty):
The caller's introduction stated, "Hey you stupid slave nigger," after which the caller threatened to kill anyone who went after former President Trump, including a direct threat to kill Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee, all democrats in Washington D.C. and all people in the LGBTQ community. The caller further stated, "You are in our sights, we want to kill you," and "We want to kill Sheila Jackson Lee." "If Trump doesn't get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, bitch." The Caller continued with their threats, stating, "You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it."
