Georgia DA Sounds Alarm on 'Very Dangerous' Aspect of Political Threats

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston warned that any form of political violence cannot be taken "lightly" in response to reports of a Texas woman facing federal charges, accused of threatening to kill U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

Abigail Jo Shry, 43, has been charged with one count of transmitting a threat to injure another person after telling Department of Homeland Security agents that she was behind a threatening voicemail left at Chutkan's chambers in Washington, D.C., federal authorities said.

Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, is overseeing the federal case against ex-President Donald Trump in which the 2024 GOP front-runner is facing four criminal counts related to his alleged efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election.

According to court documents, Shry called Chutkan's chambers on August 5 and "threatened to kill anyone who went after former President Trump," specifically listing the district judge and Democratic Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who are both Black women. Shry also reportedly began her damning voicemail by referring to Chutkan as a "stupid slave," followed by a racial slur, read the documents.

While speaking to MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Wednesday night, Boston noted her concern for anyone involved in the high-profile court cases surrounding Trump, telling Hayes, "We cannot afford to take any overture of political violence lightly anymore in 2023."

"It is a huge concern for judges, for prosecutors, even for witnesses that are called to testify in grand juries or proceedings, to give evidence or to tell what they know," Boston said. "And in particular, it's even more concerning when we're seeing especially Black women being attacked and using race and epithets against them. It is very dangerous, and we should all be concerned."

According to a report released earlier this month by the National Counterterrorism Innovation Technology and Education Center (NCITE) at the University of Nebraska, members of the criminal justice system were the most likely to receive threats, making up 42 percent of the 501 cases that were examined by NCITE in the past 10 years. That percentage includes cases where federal judges, district attorneys and attorneys general faced threats of violence or harassment.

Pete Simi, sociology professor at Chapman University and principal investigator at the NCITE, told Newsweek on Thursday that the most common threats made against federal public officials are often ones that are racially motivated. Simi added that there is often a strong "gender component" behind threats of violence as well, with female public office-holders experiencing threats of sexual violence.

Data collected by the Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI), a database established in partnership of Princeton University and the Anti-Defamation League, also found that women officials elected at the local level were targeted at a higher frequency than others, accounting for 42.5 percent of the total number of incidents reviewed by BDI in a report released in October in the fall.

"Adjusting for the proportion of women in local offices, we estimate that women are targeted 3.4x more than men," read BDI's report.

In a separate report released in October, the Center for Democracy and Technology also found that women of color running for office were twice as likely to be the target of misinformation attacks compared to other candidates, and the mostly likely to receive forms of online abuse.

Cases of political violence against elected officials have also spiked in recent years, although Simi said during a phone call with Newsweek that there was "not a single or simple casual relationship" to quite explain why.

However, there may be a few "primary factors" to look at, said Simi, who noted that NCITE saw a huge increase in threats to federal public officials after the 2016 election.

"We're now into the kind of Trump effect in terms of him in office using that kind of rhetoric, dehumanizing political opponents and various groups that he perceives as less than or deficient in some way," he said.

Simi also noted the "long standing problem" of the American public losing confidence in their social institutions, adding that political threats "are a symptom" of a bigger "crisis of legitimation."

Trump's online activity has raised concerns due to his attacks against those involved in his plethora of legal cases, which often insinuate threatening messages against witnesses and others close to his criminal investigations.

One post from his Truth Social account earlier this month, which read in all caps, "If you go after me, I'm coming after you," partially led to the protective order Chutkan established last week in his case, which restricts evidence Trump is permitted to discuss publicly in connection to his January 6 case.

During a hearing regarding the order, Chutkan also cautioned Trump and his defense team to "take special care in your public statements about this case," noting that she "will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings."

Legal experts have also warned that Trump already pushed Chutkan's established boundaries after sharing a Truth Social post on Sunday that included false accusations against the district judge.

Update 08/17/23, 7:29 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with expert comment from Pete Simi.