When Trump was indicted in DC his case was assigned to District Judge Tanya Chutkan for trial. Well, Abigail Jo Shry of Texas wasn’t having any of that and she wasted NO time making violent threats against judge Chutkan. Shry did not attend the Jan. 6 Insurrection Riot it should be noted. However the judge isn’t the only person Shry made threats against. This past November Shry pled guilty to threatening the judge. She was sentenced to 27 months in prison and was supposed to report earlier this week (on Feb. 17) to begin serving her sentence. She didn’t show and is now on the run.
My first reaction when I read this article from Alternet was to think why the hell wasn’t she already in prison? Yes, a Bench Warrant was issued for her arrest when she didn’t show up when/where she was supposed to but why the hell was she walking free for about three months in the first place? I think it’s instructive that upon the court learning Shry went on the lam and issuing an arrest warrant the day after she failed to report (yesterday, the 18th) her lawyer filed a motion to be released from defending her. Hmmmmm. It’s like he maybe knew he had a problem client on his hands, and was ready with the paperwork to file with the judge when things hit the fan.
My guess is that Shry was stunned to a)not have been included in Trump’s blanket pardon of Jan. 6 rioters, and b) that she was sentenced to prison. For over two years! I also as I said think it’s likely in her discussions with her lawyer she indicated she had no intention of serving time. Ok, so she’s racist and has a propensity for violence but hell, around where she lived in Texas that’s likely the norm. Including with a lot of people in LE and government. The feds didn’t keep tabs on her, given how busy they are tracking immigrants and citizens trying to help them. But state/local authorities? I’ll get to that.
First let’s focus on the fact Shry is a convicted felon as of last November. Making threats against a black federal judge (in DC no less) and Texas Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee authorities. Apparently that wasn’t all that big a deal to folks down in Texas. Even though the threat against judge Chutkan came hours after the case was assigned to her:
“If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we’re coming to kill you. So tread lightly,” Shry reportedly warned.
Shry also allegedly threatened to kill then-Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) “personally, publicly, your family, all of it.”
Yep, I can see how in Tex-ASS it wouldn’t be a big deal that Shry made such threats against a couple of black women. On the other hand, you’d think they’d have been concerned given other threats such as attacking the Texas Capitol, only unlike the Jan. 6 attack in DC coming with weapons:
In 2023, Shry was also accused of making threats on the Texas Capitol. She warned that there would be “war on the Texas Capitol” if Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, were impeached.
“Shry specifically states that there would be an armed attack and it would not be non-violent like the January 6th protests at the U.S. Capitol,” police reported.
“We will take weapons, come to Austin, and annihilate the government,” Shry warned.
Shry is batshit insane. I really hope there are some dogged journalists in Texas that dig into a few pretty important questions:
- Why was Shry not remanded into custody after her plea?
- If the prison sentence was unexpected and her lawyer had no indication it would happen why was Shry given three freaking months to ‘get her affairs in order?’
- Federal Officials ‘lost track of her’ after her sentencing. Why the HELL didn’t authorities where she lived keep tabs on her? Like I said, she didn’t just threaten a couple of “bigwig black women” but the state itself over Ken Paxton being impeached!
- Attorney/Client privilege might prevent him from answering but wouldn’t you like to know if Shry told him she was going to disappear, or even ask for his help doing so?
There is SO much wrong here. And the wrong may not be over. Epstein…oops I mean Trump might pardon her! Maybe that’s why her attorney balked and asked to be removed as her counsel. It’s one thing to have a client say they won’t report to serve their sentence, and quite another to have his name on a formal request to the WH saying ‘Hey, you pardoned all the J6 criminals. Doesn’t my client deserve a pardon too?’ If I were Shry’s lawyer I’d want to create as much distance as possible. As fast as possible. In other words he might not be able to come right out and say it but being ready with a motion to withdraw as soon as the court was notified Shry didn’t report to prison pretty much tells us the answer.
In the meantime Shry is now a fugitive. Call me crazy but I don’t see the DOJ making much effort to hunt her down and haul her to prison. Or press new charges for fleeing. There are after all so many immigrants and Americans who support them to terrorize and arrest. And even kill. I suspect unless/until she gets her pardon (and I say the countdown clock is already ticking) she will remain hidden somewhere. She had PLENTY of time to plan to disappear. Even get a fake identity. The only question is whether she’s crazy enough to carry out some of the attacks she’s threatened to carry out.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
“Attorney/Client privilege might prevent him from answering but wouldn’t you like to know if Shry told him she was going to disappear, or even ask for his help doing so?”
“Attorney/client privilege” does NOT cover any potential criminal activity on the part of the client.
Two major exceptions to privilege are
Crime-Fraud Exception: Privilege does not cover communications made to plan or conceal a crime or fraud.
Future Criminal Acts/Imminent Harm: Attorneys are permitted or required to disclose information necessary to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm.
(I went to the American Bar Association’s page — https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_6_confidentiality_of_information/comment_on_rule_1_6/ — but, of course, the information there is pretty much legalese and doesn’t really provide a concise list of exceptions to privilege so I relied on the AI overview for the above-listed exceptions)
If her attorney had ANY idea–even if she’d just made an off-hand “if they find me guilty, I’m gonna flee” comment, even if he thought she was joking–he had a duty first to tell her “Bad idea” and second to inform the court of her “joke.”