Texas woman charged with threatening to kill congresswoman and judge overseeing Trump case

A Texas woman has been arrested and charged with threatening to kill the D.C. federal judge overseeing the 2020 election case against former President Donald Trump, court documents show.

The accused, Abigail Jo Shry, of Alvin, Texas, called the Washington, D.C., federal courthouse on Aug. 5 and left a threatening message that included a racist term to refer to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, according to court files, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Shry admitted to making the call after investigators tracked her phone number, the criminal complaint states.

In the call, she told the judge, "You are in our sights, we want to kill you," and "If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you," prosecutors said. Shry also threatened to kill Texas Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who is running for Houston mayor, court documents show.

A judge ordered Shry to be jailed earlier this week, and records show she is being represented by the Houston public defender's office.

Records from Brazoria County, which includes the city of Alvin, show that Shry was arrested and released the next day on bond for making a terrorist threat in July.

Trump has heavily criticized Chutkan, an Obama appointee who donated thousands to Democrats and has a history of imposing the harshest sentences on Jan. 6 defendants, and he has asked for her recusal from the case.

The former president pleaded not guilty earlier this month to all four felony charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

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