A woman from Alvin has pleaded guilty after making threatening phone calls targeted at politicians in defense of President-elect Donald Trump.
Abigail Shry, 44, was charged with transmission in interstate commerce containing a threat to injure the person of another.
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The charge stemmed from phone calls she made to a federal judge on Aug. 5, 2023, during which she made insulting and threatening statements towards all people in the LGBTQIA+ community, Democrats in Washington D.C., a then-sitting congresswoman and “anyone that went after then-former President Donald Trump.”
During the 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...”
“You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it.” she added.
Three days after placing these calls, authorities showed up at her house. She acknowledged that the incriminating call came from a phone number linked to her device, and she admitted to making the call to the judge’s chambers herself.
She said she had no plans to act on the ideas that she threatened in the calls. However, she told investigators that if the aforementioned congresswoman ever came to “her city” [presumably Houston], then “we need to worry.”
At her hearing, Shry claimed that she didn’t think it was illegal to make such phone calls, arguing that her threats were protected under the First Amendment, and she had no plans to act on them.
“Shry thought the First Amendment protected her from sending a death threat to a member of congress,” U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said in a press release following the guilty plea. “She was wrong, and today’s plea demonstrates how the Southern District of Texas has no patience for those who target and threaten public servants—ignorance of the Constitution notwithstanding.”
Shry faces up to five years in federal prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 14 of next year.