A Texas man who called Rep. Maxine Waters several times in 2022 to threaten to kill her will spend close to three years behind bars.
A judge sentenced 61-year-old Brian Michael Gaherty to 33 months in prison on Monday.
Gaherty pleaded guilty to one count of threatening a United States official in January after confessing that he threatened to assault and murder Waters four times between August and November 2022.
Prosecutors said Gaherty called Waters’ district office in Los Angeles County and left four voicemails, all laced with racist and misogynistic language.
According to the indictment, Gaherty called Waters an “n–ger b–ch and threatened to “stomp her” and “put a cap” between her eyes. In one voice message, Gaherty said he would “cut your Black a– throat.”
Authorities contacted Gaherty in October 2022 and warned him to stop calling Waters after he left his first two voicemails. Despite those warnings, he called her two more times, saying that she had “done [expletive] up” by reporting his threats to police. He also stated, “This ain’t no threat. It’s a …promise.”
“Tell Congressman Maxine Waters when I see her on the street, I’m going to bust her upside her head,” Gaherty said, according to the criminal complaint.
Gaherty was arrested and charged in August 2023 on eight counts related to the threats — four counts of making threats in interstate communications and four counts of threatening a U.S. official.
During his sentencing, a judge added a hate crime enhancement to his sentence after ruling that Gaherty targeted Waters because of her race. Gaherty was also fined $10,000.
Gaherty’s attorney, Joseph Vinas, told The Independent that Gaherty offered Waters “a sincere and heartfelt apology to her.”
“Because of his mental health condition, that includes but is not limited to his PTSD, he did not remember making the comments to her,” Vinas said. “However, he now realizes he did and is incredibly remorseful.”
Waters has received her share of death threats as a congresswoman.
In 2018, Anthony Lloyd Scott pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from a call he placed to her office in 2017 and a death threat he left on her voicemail.
