'Tread lightly': Woman threatened to kill congresswoman if Trump didn't win, feds say

Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, a woman hurled death threats at a federal judge, Democratic congresswoman and the LGBTQ+ community, saying they would be in danger if now-President-elect Donald Trump did not win on Nov. 5, according to federal officials.

Abigail J. Shry, who lives in Alvin, Texas, has now pleaded guilty to transmission in interstate commerce containing a threat after she was accused of a threatening phone call on Aug. 5, 2023, to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Texas said in a Nov. 13 news release. Chutkan is the Washington, D.C., judge presiding over Trump’s federal election interference case.

Shry’s attorney did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Nov. 14.

“If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are going to kill you so tread lightly, (expletive),” she said on the call to Chutkan, according to a criminal complaint filed in August 2023.

Shry specifically mentioned Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who represented the Houston area in the 18th Congressional District before dying in July following her pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and said she wanted to kill her, according to court documents.

She started her message with a racial slur aimed at the federal judge, then added, “you will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it,” the criminal complaint said.

Three days after Shry’s threatening call, federal officials questioned her about her motives, the complaint said.

“Shry thought the First Amendment protected her from sending a death threat to a member of congress,” U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani said in a news release. “She was wrong.”

She told federal agents that she did not plan to travel to Washington, D.C., or Houston to carry out her threats. However, she said if Jackson Lee came to Alvin, where the woman lived, “then we need to worry,” according to the criminal complaint.

In addition to threats at the judge and congresswoman, Shry also targeted Democrats in Washington, D.C., and the LGBTQ+ community, federal prosecutors said.

Shry is currently out on bond, federal officials said, but she faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 14.

Alvin is about a 30-mile drive southeast from Houston.

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