What is it about Black Democratic officials that get white supremacists (likely of the MAGA variety) so deep in their feelings that they can’t restrain themselves from sending racist threats to public servants? Why are these white nationalist thugs so fragile and why are so few of them regarded as the dangerous terrorists they clearly are?
Well, fortunately, at least one man in Houston, Texas, who was accused of sending a multitude of assault and death threats to California Rep. Maxine Waters has been arrested and charged.
Sixty-year-old Brian Michael Gaherty was charged with transmission of a threat to injure the person of another interstate commerce over what appears to be a Cape Fear-style obsession with Auntie Maxine, who notably does not even represent the state where Gaherty lives.
From Click 2 Houston:
According to court documents, between August and November 2022, Gaherty called Congresswoman Waters’ office located in California and told a member of her staff that he was going to assault the congresswoman. He also left at least four threatening voicemails, including a threat to “cut your Black (expletive) throat” on Aug. 8, 2022.
On Nov. 16, 2022, at 4:37 p.m., court documents show Gaherty called Congresswoman Waters’ Hawthorne office and spoke to a staff member, and said, “Tell Congresswoman Maxine Waters when I see her on the street I’m going to bust her upside her head.”
The following day, the district director of Congresswoman Waters’ office reported the threatening call to the U.S. Capitol Police and provided them with copies of the threatening voicemails received in August 2022.
It’s unclear what issue Gaherty specifically has with Maxine Waters that is so serious it has him threatening deadly physical violence against an 84-year-old woman. Maybe he has his Fruit of the Klan drawers all in a bunch because Waters, who has dealt with plenty of racist threats from right-wing extremists, has repeatedly called for the conviction of Darth MAGA Donald Trump, who she has also called an “incompetent idiot.” Maybe Gaherty doesn’t appreciate the way Waters has perfected the “Who’s man is this?” stare when dealing with House Republicans.
Or maybe Gaherty is just another white and fragile racist who can’t stand to see a Black woman in a position of power.
In fact, Gaherty is also accused of sending threatening messages to two other congresswomen, including one who he allegedly left 10 for from September 2022 to February 2023 threatening to assault her. The two other congresswomen haven’t been identified, so it isn’t clear whether they are also Black women, but what is clear is that Gaherty is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode into political hate crimes.
But despite the clear danger this man poses, Gaherty is reportedly walking around free after posting his $100,000 bond, according to court records. This, once again, leaves us to question how many instances of white supremacist domestic terrorism have to occur before the American Justice system starts taking these violent degenerates seriously and protecting the public from them?
Hopefully, Gaherty is put in prison where he can’t hurt anyone and where he is unable to reclaim his time. (See what I did there?)
