Man convicted of threats against Obama, Rep. Waters

Associated Press

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a central New York man faces up to 20 years in prison for threatening to kill former President Barack Obama and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

According to Syracuse.com , a jury convicted Stephen Taubert on Wednesday.

The charges stemmed from phone calls, including racial slurs, that he made to Democratic Congressional offices.

In 2018, Taubert called Waters' Los Angeles office and said he was going to kill the congresswoman and every member of her staff.

Taubert called the Washington office of then-Minnesota-Sen. Al Franken in 2017 and said he was going to "hang" Obama.

The jury concluded Taubert targeted Obama and Waters because they are black. That means the judge can consider Taubert's offenses to be hate crimes when he is sentenced in July.

Information from: The Post-Standard, http://www.syracuse.com