LOS ANGELES (CN) \u2014 A 62-year-old man living in Houston was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison, on Monday, for making racist and threatening phone calls to Congresswoman Maxine Waters in 2022.<\/p>\n
Brian Michael Gaherty\u00a0pleaded guilty\u00a0last year to one count of threatening a U.S. official, admitting to have made four separate phone calls to Waters\u2019 offices, using numerous racial epithets while threatening to assault or murder her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019mma cut your Black ass throat nigga,\u201d he said on a voicemail message. \u201cWe got something for your ass now bitch, you Black motherfucker…. We coming for your Black ass.\u201d<\/p>\n
After two of the calls, Gaherty was contacted by a United States Capitol Police Special Agent. He denied making any threats and gave the officer a false name. He then made two more calls to Waters\u2019 offices. In the last one, he spoke to a staff member at the lawmaker\u2019s district office in Hawthorne: \u201cTell Congresswoman Maxine Waters when I see her on the street I\u2019m going to bust her upside her head.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also made threatening phone calls to two other Congresswoman of color, including a Latina legislator, saying, \u201cI ain\u2019t threatening you fucking Latino whore.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 85-year-old Waters, who has represented parts of southern LA County for 33 years, was in court for the sentencing along with members of her family and a handful of supporters. She told the judge that the threats had given her nightmares; she found Gaherty\u2019s promise to cut her throat particularly unnerving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fearful,\u201d Waters said. \u201cI\u2019m afraid to be approached by strangers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gaherty, who appeared in court clean, calm and extremely polite, said that he has no memory of making the phone calls, and that he was disgusted when FBI agents played them for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry for what I did,\u201d Gaherty said, speaking to Waters directly. \u201cAs God as my witness. From one Christian to another, I ask for your forgiveness.\u201d He added: \u201cI\u2019m deeply sorry. I can understand the fear it caused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gaherty\u2019s attorney, Joseph Vinas, had asked for a sentence of either house arrest or time served plus supervised release. He said that Gaherty was a victim of a violent crime in 2016, having been shot in the back and robbed while he washed his car in his driveway. The shooting left him both physically and mentally debilitated; he has since suffered form post traumatic stress disorder, as well as depression and bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Gaherty routinely wakes in the middle of the night to patrol his home and stand guard against any would-be intruders,\u201d Vinas wrote in his sentencing\u00a0memo.\u00a0Vinas called the statements made over the phone \u201cdelusional rantings of a man who, through no fault of his own, suffers from a complex combination of mental illnesses.\u201d Vinas also argued that the federal prison system \u201cis not equipped to care for Mr. Gaherty\u2019s complex cocktail of mental and physical ailments. Home confinement would be more efficient and just under his circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what he said,\u201d Vinas told the judge. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about 4.5 minutes of words. Terrible words. But he had no plan. There were no credible threats.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assistant United States Attorney Laura Alexander said the fact that the Gaherty made no attempt to inflict violence on Waters wasn\u2019t the point. The threat was intended, she said, to stop Waters from performing her duty as a Congresswoman \u2014\u00a0\u201cto silence her. To tell her, \u2018Take up less space as an African American.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexander said the fact that he made more phone calls after being contacted by the law enforcement official the first time indicated that Gaherty \u201cremembered exactly what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he were just paranoid, he would have called a white Congresswoman,\u201d she added. \u201cHe only called Congresswoman of color.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Gary Klausner agreed with the recommendations of both the prosecutors and the probation office, sentencing Gaherty to 33 months in prison, which includes a sentencing enhancement for a hate crime. He was also fined $10,000. Klausner said little in the way of explanation for the sentence.<\/p>\n
Vinas asked the judge that his client be allowed to travel back to Texas and turn himself into authorities there; the judge denied that request, and Gaherty was taken into custody.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the hearing, when asked if he had anything else he wanted to say, Gaherty told this reporter, \u201cI love everybody and I\u2019m sorry this happened. I have no hatred in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waters praised the sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hopeful this will be a deterrent for those who would like to kill us and terrorize us,\u201d Waters said. She said she doubted the sincerity of Gaherty\u2019s apology, saying, \u201cWhen you\u2019re in that situation, you\u2019ll do everything you can to avoid losing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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