A Trump supporter who sent 75 hand-made death threats to Democratic politicians over four years has been jailed by a federal judge.
Michael Anthony Gallagher, 71, pleaded guilty last August to mailing a threatening postcard to Rep. Maxine Waters, signed “KKK,” but his crimes from 2016 to 2020 went well beyond that single offense. The U.S. Department of Justice argued a one-year probation term and no jail was a sufficient consequence.
But at the December sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg decided to jail Gallagher for four months, according to a minute order of the hearing. Gallagher was ordered to report to the Bureau of Prisons by the first week of March to begin his sentence.
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In a sentencing memo, prosecutors say that over four years Gallagher sent at least 75 similar threats to politicians all over the United States, targeting those who were critical of former President Donald Trump. Gallagher wrote wrote an apology letter saying, “I am painfully sorry and ashamed.”
Judges Aren’t Showing Leniency To Those Radicalized By Trump
From 1/6 insurrectionists to those making death threats, judges have shown that they aren’t inclined to believe the sob stories and apologies that are being offered by supporters of Donald Trump for their violent, threatening, and dangerous behavior.
All of these people were radicalized by the pushing of Trump’s rhetoric by conservative media, specifically Fox News.
Lots of people disagree with politicians, but they don’t make death threats. One death threat is a serious crime. Seventy-five death threats are a pattern of dangerous behavior.
The judge was right to send Gallagher to jail, it sends a message that violence and death threats have no place in a democracy.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
