A 61-year-old Texas man was sentenced on June 17 to 33 months in federal prison and fined $10,000 for making threatening phone calls to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
District Judge Gary Klausner found that Brian Michael Gaherty, 61, of Houston, targeted the congresswoman with violent threats because of her race. A “hate-crime enhancement” was applied to his sentence, the DOJ said in a press release.
Mr. Gaherty pleaded guilty on January 29 to one count of threatening a U.S. official, admitting to threatening to assault and kill Ms. Waters on four separate occasions between August and November 2022.
The DOJ stated that Mr. Gaherty made the threats “with the intent to impede, intimidate, and interfere with Waters while she was engaged in the performance of her official duties.”…