A Houston man was indicted Friday on federal charges in connection to a series of voicemail threats made to Rep. Maxine Waters’ (D-Calif.) office last year.
Brian Michael Gaherty, 60, was charged with four counts of making threats in interstate communications as well as four counts of threatening a United States official, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California press release.
The release states that the indictment filed Friday revealed that Gaherty allegedly called the congresswoman’s office four times last year and each contained a threat to Waters, including at least one that threatened to “cut your throat.”
The indictment said that Gaherty “knowingly threatened to assault and kill” Waters “with the intent to impede, intimidate, and interfere with victim Congresswoman Waters.”
“Threats to harm and kill an elected official impact the intended victim, her entire staff and every constituent who is not receiving services because the elected official is dealing with the security threat,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “The entire Justice Department is dedicated to protecting American democracy, which includes combating threats that terrorize officials who have been elected to serve the public.”
Gaherty was arrested and charged in connection to this case earlier this month. Court documents said that he had a “history of sending racist, violent threats to other congresswomen,” including two other congresswoman of color.
Each count of threatening a U.S. official carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, and each count of threats made over interstate communication carries a maximum of five years in prison, according to the release.
Although threats against members of Congress dropped in 2022, Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said earlier this year that they are “still too high.”
In 2022, the agency’s Threat Assessment Section investigated 7,501 cases of threats, noting that the states of California and Florida had the most threats against members of Congress.