A Texas woman was arrested and has been charged with threatening to kill the federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington and a member of Congress.
Abigail Jo Shry of Alvin, Texas, called the federal courthouse in Washington and left the threatening message — using a racist term for U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — on Aug. 5, court records show. Investigators traced her phone number and she later admitted to making the threatening call, according to a criminal complaint.
In the call, Shry told the judge, who is overseeing the election conspiracy case against Trump, “You are in our sights, we want to kill you," the documents said. Prosecutors allege Shry also said, “If Trump doesn't get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you," and she threatened to kill U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat running for mayor of Houston, according to court documents.
A judge earlier this week ordered Shry jailed. Court records show Shry is represented by the Houston public defender’s office, which did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Wednesday.
Trump has publicly assailed Chutkan, a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, calling her “highly partisan” and “ VERY BIASED & UNFAIR!” because of her past comments in a separate case overseeing the sentencing of one of the defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Chutkan in a hearing Friday imposed a protective order in the case limiting what evidence handed over by prosecutors the former president and his legal team can publicly disclose. She warned Trump’s lawyers that his defense should be mounted in the courtroom and “not on the internet.”
President Trump escalated his war of words with Anthony Scaramucci on Monday, calling the Mooch "highly unstable" in an early morning tweet storm. Scaramucci joined Cheddar to unpack the string of insults and to discuss the coalition of former cabinet members he is assembling to stop Trump in 2020.
Nearly a thousand Twitter accounts were blocked and several Facebook pages taken down on Monday in a coordinated effort by the social media platforms to curb misinformation campaigns spread by the Chinese government against protesters in Hong Kong.
San Jose could become the first city in the U.S. to implement a novel ordinance aimed at curbing gun violence: requiring gun owners to carry liability insurance.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan said on Friday that she will not visit her family in the West Bank due to the conditions required by the Israeli government. The decision follows a reversal by Israel, which first barred her from the country and later granted her entry on humanitarian grounds.
In Srinagar, the capital city of Jammu and Kashmir, over one million people woke up last week to a complete telecommunications blackout. The blackout was mandated by the Indian government, which just hours later would unilaterally strip the disputed territory of its autonomy status.
Recently passed legislation in New York City will track commercial storefronts, giving the city a comprehensive database on building vacancies for the first time ever.
Former two-term Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has officially dropped out of the 2020 race, slimming the Democratic field to just over two-dozen.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019.
An unofficial coalition of far-right extremist groups are set to descend on Portland, Oregon this weekend and the city’s mayor has a clear message for them: you are not welcome.
J.D. Durkin made his way to an Iowan raceway and watering hole as the Hawkeye State hosts the many candidates vying for the primary election.
