Court documents showed that a woman was arrested in Texas on Wednesday over death threats against a federal judge who will oversee the trial of former US President Donald Trump, who is accused of trying to reverse the results of the 2020 elections.
On Aug. 5, Abigail Jo Shri, a resident of Alvin, Texas, left a racially charged phone message that included death threats in Judge Tanya Chutkan’s office in Washington, according to a complaint filed by a US Undersecretary for Homeland Security.
The 43-year-old called Ms. Chutkan a “stupid black slave” and said, “You are in our sights, we want to kill you,” according to the document filed in the Federal Court for the Southern District of Texas. .
He threatened cross-examination again, saying, “If Trump is not elected in 2024, we will kill you so beware,” adding that the judge’s family was another target.
She also threatened to kill anyone Gov. Donald Trump, quoting African-American Representative-elect and Democratic Texas in the Texas House of Representatives Sheila Jackson Lee, according to the document.
On Wednesday, a judge ordered that she be arrested and brought to court.
Trump, 77, is the Republican front-runner for the 2024 presidential election, but he faces four criminal trials as he tries to return to the White House.
Judge Chutkan, 61, has been randomly assigned to oversee the trial of the former president who is accused of trying to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election, which was won by his Democratic rival, Joe Biden. Donald Trump was indicted on August 1 for conspiracy against the state in the case.
Two years ago, a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Trump in which he argued that as president he could not turn the documents over to a congressional committee investigating the 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters. She replied that “presidents are not kings” and that Trump was no longer in office.
In addition, Ms. Chutkan is known for her harsh condemnation of supporters of the former president who participated in the storming of the Capitol.
Born in Jamaica, she was nominated by former Democratic President Barack Obama and confirmed unanimously by the Senate in June 2014.
