Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Man gets 33 months in prison after threatening to decapitate congresswoman
By Malia Zimmerman @ 2:35 PM :: 4609 Views :: Congressional Delegation

Man gets 33 months in prison after threatening to decapitate congresswoman

Photo by Policia Federal JAILED: Aniruddha Sherbow was sentenced to prison for threatening a U.S. congresswoman. Photo by Policia Federal

by Malia Zimmerman, Watchdog.org, December 9, 2014  (Reprinted with permission of Watchdog.org.)

Threatening to decapitate a congresswoman has landed a former Hawaii resident in federal prison.

Aniruddha Sherbow, 44, was sentenced Monday to 33 months in federal prison after threatening to “beat” and “decapitate” U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii.

The threats began in 2011 when Gabbard was a member of the Honolulu City Council and continued after her 2012 election to Congress, even though Sherbow in 2011 was ordered to stay way from Gabbard for three years.

The threats, which Sherbow communicated directly to Gabbard as well as to Watchdog.org and other media, escalated into 2013.

On Aug. 1, 2013, when Gabbard was in Washington, D.C., court records show Sherbow left Gabbard an expletive-laced voicemail calling her a “stupid little bitch.” He said he planned to find the congresswoman, beat her and kill her.

On Aug. 3,  2013, Sherbow sent an email to the FBI and the media, including Watchdog.org, with the headline “Cutting Off Tulsi Gabbard’s Head.”

“I, Aniruddha Sherbow, with the Divine as my witness, do hereby solemnly vow to find Tulsi Gabbard, wheresoever she may be, and to sever her head from her body,” the email read.

Sherbow’s father, Paul Sherbow, told investigators he also received the Aug. 3 email and confirmed his son sent it, court records show.

A federal arrest warrant was issued in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after Sherbow made those threats.

Photo courtesy of Tulsi Gabbard SAFE: U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, was granted a restraining order against a Hawaii resident after he threatened and harassed her, court records show. Photo courtesy of Tulsi Gabbard

Saying he was a philosophy major and writer, Sherbow corresponded exclusively with Watchdog.org in a series of emails, saying Gabbard was “The Prima Donna” who made him feel “insignificant.”

He goes by the name “Sphinx the writer” and said when he lived in Hawaii, he offered to volunteer to write news releases and other correspondences Gabbard’s council office.

Sherbow said he felt compelled to contact Gabbard initially because he “was born into the same obscure Western-Hindu tradition as Tulsi, the Hare Krishna Movement, also known as the Brahma Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya.”

He has been in federal custody since his August 2013 arrest in Tijuana, Mexico, by the Policia Estatal Preventiva and the Baja California State Police Fugitive Unit, which worked in cooperation with the FBI, Capitol Police, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorney.

Sherbow pleaded no contest to two charges in February related to transmission of threats.

Once released from prison, Sherbow will be placed on three years of supervised release and is barred from having any contact with Gabbard, according to a court agreement.

Sherbow also must reimburse the government $538,282 for security expenses incurred as a result of his threats and get a mental health evaluation and treatment, Judge Reggie B. Walton ruled.

Gabbard, 33, has extensive military experience, including two tours of combat duty in the Middle East. She is a captain in the Hawaii National Guard’s 29th Brigade Combat Team. Her election to Congress in 2012 was notable because she was the first Hindu and first woman of Samoan ancestry to serve in Congress. Gabbard has not commented on this case.

---30---

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT