A woman in California has pleaded guilty to threatening to bomb a Catholic all-girls school in Washington D.C. that was welcoming of it’s alumni members who were in same-sex marriages.
The US Department of Justice announced that Sonia Tabizada, age 36, of San Jacinto, California, pleaded guilty in federal court to intentionally obstructing persons in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs by threatening to bomb the Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, D.C.
In May 2019, school officials announced that Visitation Prep, the oldest Catholic school for girls in the country, would begin publishing same-sex wedding announcements in its alumni magazine to advance its teaching that “we are all children of God … worthy of respect and love.”
According to the plea agreement, Tabizada learned of this announcement and made multiple calls threatening violence in response to the school’s decision.
On May 15, 2019, Tabizada left a voice message stating that she was going to burn and bomb the church. Tabizada also stated that she was going to kill school officials and students. Several minutes later, Tabizada left a second voice mail stating that she was going to blow up the school and warned that she would commit “terrorism.”
“Remove the f—–g gay motherf—–s from your magazine or I’m going to f—–g kill your kids. That’s a promise,” Tabizada said in one of her threatening voice messages.
Eric Drieband, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division said Tabizada had made violent threats against the school.
“The defendant made violent threats against high school students, religious leaders, and school officials based solely on her disagreement with a private school’s application of religious doctrine,” Drieband said. “Tolerance and religious freedom are cornerstone values in our society and the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously prosecute violent threats motivated by bias.”
Michael R. Sherwin, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said the threats made by the defendant were an attack on their ability to freely practice religion.
“The defendant’s violent threats were directed at the free exercise of a private school community’s religious beliefs. An attack upon the free exercise of any person or group’s religious beliefs is an attack upon the civil rights of every citizen. Today’s guilty plea is part of my office’s commitment to ensuring that all District citizens can safely exercise their religious beliefs and that all of their civil rights are protected,” Sherwin said.
Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office said defending religious freedoms was a top priority of the government agency.
“Tabizada used threats of violence to intimidate others because of differing religious views,” D’Antuono said. “Every citizen and community has the Constitutional right to exercise their own religious beliefs free from fear and discrimination. Defending civil rights is a top priority for the FBI and we will continue to work to protect the civil rights and freedoms granted to all Americans.”
Tabizada did not appear to have any connection to the school which is located on the opposite side oft he country to where she lives, but may have read about their policy change in the media.
She will be sentenced at a hearing scheduled for March 23, 2021. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
OIP Staff
