Monday, July 20, 2026

Woman threatens to kill judge ‘if Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024’

Investigators traced her phone number, and she later admitted to making the threatening call.

• August 18, 2023
President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump

A Texas woman was arrested and charged with threatening to kill the federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former U.S. 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 August 5, court records showed. 

Investigators traced her phone number, and she later admitted to making the threatening call, according to a criminal complaint. However, she said she had no plans to travel to Washington, D.C., or Houston to carry out any threats.

In the call, Ms Shry told the judge overseeing the election conspiracy case against Mr Trump, “You are in our sights; we want to kill you,” according to the documents. 

Prosecutors alleged Ms Shry also said, “If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you.” The 43-year-old also threatened to kill U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat running for mayor of Houston, members of the LGBTQ community and other unnamed Democrats, according to court documents.

A judge earlier this week ordered Ms Shry jailed. Court records show the Houston public defender’s office represents Ms Shry.

Mr Trump has publicly assailed Ms Chutkan, a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, calling her “highly partisan” and “very biased and unfair” because of her past comments in a separate case overseeing the sentencing of one of the defendants charged in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Ademola Adeleke and Oyebamiji

Politics

INEC says Osun residents’ PVCs ready for collection ahead of governorship poll

INEC has announced that PVCs of eligible voters who registered or updated their records during the recent CVR exercise in the state are ready for collection.

Spaniards celebrating

Sport

13-year-old boy killed as Spaniards celebrate 2026 World Cup win

A 13-year-old boy was killed after the Árbol Gordo fountain collapsed as football fans gathered to celebrate the country’s World Cup win.

Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (Credit: KADSEMA)

States

Gas tanker leak contained in Kaduna: KADSEMA

The executive secretary of KADSEMA, Usman Mazadu, said the agency has contained a compressed gas tanker leak in Kaduna South.

Coffins of U.S. servicemen

World

Iran War: Three U.S. servicemen killed

Another American service member has been reported killed by fragments of a downed Iranian drone in northern Iraq, raising the number of U.S. troops killed last week to three.

Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya

Anti-Corruption

NBA president-elect submits self to post-election audit amid fraud, rigging allegations

Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, the president-elect of the Nigerian Bar Association, says she is ready to subject herself to a post-election audit following her victory.

Bank of the Valley, Stearns Bank

Anti-Corruption

Bank CFO jailed 36 months in U.S. prison for fraud scheme

Mr Luneke defrauded Bank of the Valley, obtaining two loans totalling approximately $4,320,000.