A New York man was convicted by a jury of threatening to kill former President Barack Obama.
Stephen Taubert, 61, made death threats against Obama and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the Department of Justice said. The jury decision came on March 20 after a three-day trial.
Taubert was convicted of threatening to kill a former President of the United States, transmitting a threat via interstate commerce, and threatening to murder a member of Congress with intent to impede, interfere with, or retaliate against a member of Congress during and because of her performance of official duties, the department said.
Taubert on June 2, 2017, called the Washington office of then-Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and said that he was planning to travel to the nation’s capital to kill Obama at his house.
Taubert also unleashed a slew of “vile racial slurs” against Obama.
On July 20, 2018, Taubert called the Los Angeles district office of Waters and said that he would be at every event the Congresswoman attended.
He said he planned to kill Waters and every member of her staff and again used a number of racial slurs.
The evidence presented at the trial included a recorded interview in which Taubert admitted calling Waters’ office to “terrorize” her in retaliation for some of the public statements she made. He also used racist statements in the interview.
Taubert also said he was motivated to make the calls to Franken’s office because he was upset about a video that former comedian Kathy Griffin made in which she pretended to sever the head of President Donald Trump.
Taubert apologized, saying he was just “a cranky old man with a lot of time on his hands and too much television,” reported Syracuse.com. Officers said he ultimately confessed to making the calls to Waters but Taubert denied in court filings ever making threats.
Taubert, who is slated to be sentenced on July 24, faces up to 20 years in prison.
Man Arrested for Threatening to Kill Trump
A Puerto Rican man was arrested for threatening to kill President Donald Trump, American officials said.
A criminal complaint filed against Migdoel Cruz-Ruiz on Jan. 16 said that he was in violation of U.S. Code Section 871, U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez said in a statement.
The affidavit in support of the complaint stated that Cruz-Ruiz, no age given, contacted the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center by telephone.
He then made threats to kill President Trump and destroy Newark, Boston, Colorado, and the White House “very soon.”
He said he planned to kill Trump and destroy the places in vengeance for things the United States allegedly did to the people of Pakistan, India, and Iran.
“Federal authorities will continue to prosecute those who use means of communication to threaten, promote, or incite violent acts,” said Rodríguez-Vélez, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, in a statement.
If convicted, Cruz-Ruiz faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison with supervised release up to three years, and a fine of $250,000.
The arrest came after an Arizona man who threatened to shoot President Donald Trump, along with other political figures, was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Jerrod Hunter Schmidt of Kingman was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven Logan on Dec. 17, the Department of Justice said.
The sentence came after Schmidt was found guilty in September by a jury of two counts of threatening the President of the United States and two counts of making interstate threatening communications.
