Man gets nearly 3 years for threatening Rep. Maxine Waters

A 61-year-old man was sentenced on Monday, June 17, to nearly three years behind bars after making a series of phone calls to the Hawthorne office of Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, and threatening her with death.

Brian Gaherty of Houston, Texas was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine along with the two-year, nine-month term in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In January, Gaherty pleaded guilty in downtown Los Angeles to one felony count of threatening a United States official.

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner found that Gaherty targeted Waters because of her race and applied a hate-crime enhancement to the sentence.

A criminal indictment filed in federal court states that Gaherty called the congresswoman’s office twice in August 2022 and twice in November 2022. Gaherty left four voicemails, each containing a threat, officials said.

For example, in one of the calls Gaherty threatened to “cut your throat,” court papers say.

Gaherty “knowingly threatened to assault and kill (Waters) with the intent to impede, intimidate and interfere” with the elected official while she was engaged in the performance of her official duties, according to the April 2023 indictment.

“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,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada previously said in a statement.