A Texas woman was ordered detained Wednesday after she was arrested and charged with threatening the federal judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s election case in Washington, D.C.
Abigail Jo Shry, 43, faces a charge of transmitting a threat to injure a person via interstate commerce, according to an affidavit signed by Joshua Henry, a special agent with the Federal Protective Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security.
The affidavit, filed in federal court last week and first reported Wednesday by Bloomberg Law, alleged that Shry called U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan‘s chamber on Aug. 5 and left a “threatening voicemail message” intended for Chutkan, who was randomly assigned to oversee Trump’s criminal case.
“Hey you stupid slave,” Shry allegedly said, before referring to Chutkan using the N-word. “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 allegedly also “made a direct threat to kill” Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, the LGBTQ community and unnamed Democrats.
During an interview with DHS special agents at her home in Alvin, Shry acknowledged making the call, according to the affidavit, but said she had no plans to travel to Washington, D.C., or Houston to carry out any of her threats.
A lawyer for Shry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Lee. NBC News has also reached out to Chutkan’s office for comment.
Magistrate Judge Sam S. Sheldon of the Southern District of Texas ordered Shry detained on Wednesday.
Security has been bolstered around Chutkan, an Obama appointee, after Trump suggested that his case was being treated unfairly, and demanded her recusal in a post last week on Truth Social, his social media platform.
A grand jury convened by special counsel Jack Smith indicted the former president on charges related to conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The former president has previously disparaged prosecutors and judges involved in cases against him, though he has been noticeably more restrained in the classified documents case where U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, one of his appointees, is presiding.
After Trump was indicted in an alleged hush money case in New York in March, he warned of “potential death and destruction” and criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, calling him an “animal.”
Trump and his allies have also disparaged Juan Merchan, the state Supreme Court judge presiding over the hush money case. Ahead of his court appearance in April, Trump called Merchan a “highly partisan judge” and said that Merchan and his family were “Trump haters.”