A 61-year-old Texas man who threatened to kill Representative Maxine Waters has been sentenced to 33 months in prison.
Brian Michael Gaherty of Houston was sentenced to a $10,000 fine by a federal judge on Monday. According to the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner applied a hate crime enhancement to Gaherty’s sentence after finding he targeted Waters, who is black, because of her race.
During the sentencing hearing, the California Democrat told the judge that her family members live in fear because of the threats Gaherty made against her.
“This growing effort to target people of color and women of color… has given me nightmares. I fear for my life,” Waters said.
Gaherty pleaded guilty in January to threatening a U.S. official and admitted to making threats of assault and murder against Waters in four separate voicemails, “each of which contained a violent threat, profanity, and racist and misogynistic language,” it said. US Attorney’s Office. .
Gaherty first threatened to kill Waters in August 2022, warning her to “move out” because he had a “contract” on her life. After authorities told Gaherty to stop, he threatened Waters again in November of that year for contacting police. He was indicted in April 2023 on four counts of uttering threats in interstate communications and four counts of threatening a U.S. official.
Violent threats against government officials have escalated in recent years. Research has shown that women of color running for office face disproportionately high rates of violent threats and that such hostility has deterred many from holding office.
Gaherty’s attorney, Joseph Vinas, told NBC News that his client has apologized to Waters. Vinas added that this would never have happened without his client’s “mental health condition, which he currently suffers as a result of having himself been the victim of a violent crime.”
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
