A Texas man who made a series of death threats to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) was sentenced to nearly three years in prison on Monday.
Brian Michael Gaherty of Houston was sentenced to serve 33 months in federal prison after he made several phone calls in 2022, threatening to kill Waters, according to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Gaherty was also given a $10,000 fine.
In April 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Gaherty over the threatening phone calls he had made to Waters the year before.
Gaherty was charged with “four counts of making threats in interstate communications and four counts of threatening a United States official,” according to a press release from April 2023.
“Threats to harm or kill elected officials are anathema to our nation’s values and must not – and will not – be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “My office and the entire Department of Justice will continue to combat threats against public officials and other attempts to chill democracy.”
Gaherty pleaded guilty in January to “one count of threatening a United States official,” according to the press release.
The press release noted that in Gaherty’s plea agreement, he “admitted” that he had made threats of “assault and murder” to the California congresswoman on “four separate occasions in August and November of 2022,” with the intention of impeding, interfering, or intimidating her as she was “engaged in” carrying out the duties of her job.
Gaherty reportedly left a voicemail at Waters’ office in August 2022, in which he threatened to “put a cap” between her eyes, “stomp” her, and “cut [her] throat,” according to the press release.
The Texas man also reportedly threatened that Waters “better move” because “he and his boys ‘in the area’ had a ‘contract’ on her life,” according to the press release.
Even after Gaherty had been contacted by law enforcement officials, who “warned him to disengage,” Gaherty continued to send more threatening voicemails to Waters.
“Authorities contacted Gaherty and warned him to disengage in October 2022, but a few weeks later, he persisted with his violent threats,” the press release noted. “In November 2022, Gaherty left Waters two additional voicemails, informing Waters that she ‘done [expletive] up’ by reporting his threats to law enforcement, and stated, ‘This ain’t no threat. It’s a … promise.'”
“He also threatened to meet Waters ‘on the street’ and ‘get in [her] face,’ and again told her that he and his ‘crowd,’ had a contract to ‘take [her]… out.’ Finally, he warned, ‘You better watch your back,'” it concluded.
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