Texas woman arrested for threatening to kill judge in Trump election case

Federal investigators said that Shry used racist language in a voicemail message attacking Chutkan, a Black woman, and threatened to kill anyone who went after Trump.

 Portrait of Tanya Chutkan, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. (photo credit:  United States District Court for the District of Columbia/Wikimedia Commons)
Portrait of Tanya Chutkan, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
(photo credit: United States District Court for the District of Columbia/Wikimedia Commons)

A woman in Texas was charged on Wednesday with threatening to kill the federal judge in Washington, DC who is presiding over Donald Trump's election fraud charges, according to local news reports. 

Abigail Jo Shry, 43, of Alvin, Texas left a voicemail on the phone line for Judge Chutkan's chambers on August 5, 2023, according to the New York Times. This was just two days after Trump was arraigned on election fraud charges.

Federal investigators said that Shry used racist language in a voicemail message attacking Chutkan, a Black woman, and threatened to kill anyone who went after Trump.

What did Shry say?

“Hey you stupid slave,” Shry said before she referred to Chutkan using the N-word, NBC news reported citing the affidavit filed in federal court last week. “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, b----.”

“You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it,”  Shry reportedly said.

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a rally to contest the certification of the presidential election results by Congress, in Washington in Novemer, 2021. (credit: JIM BOURG / REUTERS)
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a rally to contest the certification of the presidential election results by Congress, in Washington in Novemer, 2021. (credit: JIM BOURG / REUTERS)

Shry also allegedly threatened Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a Black Democratic congresswoman from Texas.

NBC further cited the affidavit saying that agents from the Department of Homeland Security came to Shry's home and questioned her there before she was arrested. At that time, Shry reportedly admitted to having made the call but claimed she had no plans to travel to other cities or states to carry out her threats.