Main: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon). Inset: Garry Lebron Hayes (Hamilton County Jail).
A 45-year-old man in Tennessee will be spending a couple of years behind bars after he admitted to leaving a spate of gruesome, expletive-laden messages threatening the life of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and her family.
U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier on Wednesday ordered Garry Lebron Hayes to serve two years in a federal correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to one count of using interstate commerce to transmit a threat to injure another.
Collier handed down the maximum penalty within the federal sentencing guidelines, saying his intention was to “send a signal to all of the other Garry Lebron Hayes” in the country who might think they can get away with such conduct, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported. Despite law enforcement stating there was no evidence Hayes planned to carry out any attacks against the Republican lawmaker, the judge reportedly added that the harsh sentence was aimed more at protecting democracy than Greene.
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According to court documents, Hayes repeatedly identified himself by name and told the congresswoman where he lived, often as part of the threatening messages. For example, in a voice message left on March 9, 2022, Hayes said the following:
Hey [Congresswoman]. My name is Gary, G-A-R-R-Y, Hayes, H-A-Y-E-S. And I”m a little bit off. I’m a little bit taken back, but I’m from that area you are. And at any time that you feel like you want to do white nationalist s—, call my name, call my name. I’ll come see you and your children, and we’ll see how that ends up. B—!
In December 2022, Hayes left Greene another voicemail, this time mentioning her children as well as her then-husband Perry Greene, writing:
Let me assure you of something. You trifling b—. I’m a black man and I will meet you one day, b—. And when I do, I want your kids there, cause I’m gonna beat your mother f—ing ass in front of your children, b—. Now come f— with me. Come f— with me. Have your husband there too, b—.
Hayes’s rhetoric became increasingly violent, and on July 2, 2024, he upped the ante from threatening to beat up Greene to threatening to kill her, writing:
I’m in Chattanooga. You got, you got to ask your kids to f—ing finally kiss your ass, b—. Imma kill your ass, Imma kill you, b—.
Following the threats to Greene, an FBI task force officer interviewed the suspect’s mother at her home in Tennessee regarding her son’s threats. After learning of the FBI’s visit, Hayes responded by sending the following email to an FBI special agent:
I just unfortunately found out that you have visited my mother’s house. I certainly have not threatened or did anything to the government. But I understand Trump is elected and [your] counterpart clearly is a Trump lover. Don’t threaten my mother and don’t threaten me, I don’t have a threat for you all but I will defend my life to death. So tell your friend don’t come back to me don’t come back to my mother’s house I don’t have a threat for you all. But I’m willing to die.
During one court proceeding, prosecutors also played a voice message Hayes left for South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, according to the Free Press. In the message, Hayes referred to the Republican senator with a homophobic slur and accused him of having sex with President Donald Trump.
Hayes will be required to undergo mental health counseling during his incarceration.
