Using the n-word to refer to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Anthony Scott Lloyd of San Pedro, Calif., said she would “wind up dead,” for voicing her objections to President Donald Trump.
A federal grand jury has charged Lloyd, 44, with threatening to murder Waters, 79, in a phone call to her Capitol Hill office last month. An indictment was filed Nov. 17 in a U.S. District Court.
Ina statementissued on Monday, the Department of Justice said Lloyd called the congresswoman’s office on Oct. 22 “and left a voicemail laced with expletives and epithets that uses the words ‘dead’ and ‘kill’ a total of four times.”
Not stated in the DOJ press release, Lloyd said, “If you continue to make threats toward the president, you’re going to wind up dead, Maxine, ’cause we’ll kill you,” according to an arrest affidavit obtained by theLos Angeles Times.
Hewas irate while listening to talk radio on Oct. 22 “when he heard a report involving Waters making disparaging comments about Trump.”
The affidavit said he also used the n-word and anti-gay slurs. Lloyd was freed on a $20,000 bond after his arrest. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on Dec. 7. Lloyd could face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison,”if he were to be convicted of making the threat against Rep. Waters with the intent to interfere with the congresswoman while she engaged in her official duties.”
However, the DOJ emphasized in its statement, “Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.”
The congresswoman said Lloyd’s actions did not represent the majority of her district.
“My district is very diverse, and though we don’t always agree, my constituents would never threaten me,” Waters said in a statement. “We are collectively focused on the progress, safety and security of our communities.”
Nicknamed “Auntie Maxine,” Waters represents a southern portion of Los Angeles County. Shewas elected to her 13th term in the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2014 and serves as a ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services.
The congresswoman has been an adamant critic of Trump’s rhetoric, calling for his impeachment.
“You recognize when a leader is irresponsible,” she said at theGlamour Woman of the Yearawards on Nov. 13 in New York City.
“You recognize when a leader is dishonorable and disrespectful. You recognize when a leader is dangerous. Even if that leader is the President of the United States of America.”
“I want you to have courage,” she told the audience. “I want you to know that you can stand up to him or anybody else. For those who say to me, ‘You are asking for something too soon and too early, be careful, don’t jeopardize yourself, don’t say what you’re saying right now,’ I will continue to say, ‘Impeach him! Impeach him! Impeach him!”
Maxine Waters led a crowd in chanting “Impeach 45!” at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards. (via Glamour) https://t.co/1C0bfI3OKf
Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 14, 2017
Waters has also addressed the Trump administration’s ongoing disregard for Black women.
“We are sick and tired of women being undermined, being dismissed,” she said in October on MSNBC. “And, Black women in particular being called names.”
Waters wasreferring to the women of the Congressional Black Caucus’statement demanding White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly apologize to Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) for sharing a false story about her, as he attempted to defend Trump following his phone call to Myeshia Johnson, the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson.Additional remains of Johnson, who was killed in the Oct, 4 ambush by ISIS fighters in Niger, were discovered Nov. 12.
