DA Gerald Byers addresses U.S. Federal Court and man who threatened him at sentencing.

Federal District Judge Kenneth Gonzalez sentenced Ohio resident defendant Donal Walter Fowler to a sentence of three (3) years supervised probation and a $1,000 fine after Fowler pled guilty on June 17, 2024 to the federal felony offense of Communicating Interstate Threats.

A plea agreement was reached in the case of Fowler who is accused of Threatening Communications violating federal law. In a racist rant voicemail left by Fowler on October 26, 2023, on the Third Judicial District Attorney’s message center.

The investigation of the recording utilized racist and threatening language directed at DA Byers and his family’s safety. “There should be a noose in your future,” stated the caller. The 2-minute call also contained the n-word and disparaging comments about the police and Byers African American heritage.

Third Judicial District Attorney investigation staff contacted the FBI to conduct an automated search into the phone records and were able to narrow down the time of the call and the suspect cell phone number that listed Fowler’s address in Ohio. The Doña Ana County Sheriff’s department, the Las Cruces Police Department, the New Mexico State Police and the United States Marshall Service were notified of the threat to the District Attorney Byers, his office and his family. Patrol officers from these agencies began to conduct patrols in the neighborhood where DA Byers resides as well as the DA’s office.

The DA Investigator’s report disclosed that the reason for the call initiated when the October 3, 2023, video of the Teresa Gomez shooting by Las Cruces Police Officer Felipe Hernandez was released by Las Cruces Police Department and was picked up by a social media channel that incites actions against law enforcement agencies around the country.

The Third Judicial District Attorney’s office and the Las Cruces Police department received over 500 calls from around the country from viewers who subscribe to this channel. Many of the calls used profanity and threatening language.

FBI Agents in New Mexico and Ohio investigated the case and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico secured a grand jury indictment, charging Flowler with the felony offense.

At the sentencing hearing DA Byers described to the court how Fowler’s threat, disrupted police agency operations, required enhanced security measures at the District Attorney’s office, necessitated additional security measures for Byers’ home and family; and most importantly left a lingering sense of diminished safety just because of his position as a public official.

DA Byers noted in his remarks to the court that it seemed ironic that Fowler’s racist rant focused on how his mere existence as a Black man was so inherently offensive to him, and Flowler never bothered to mention the ethnicity of Hernandez or Gomez.

With concurrence from DA Byers, the United States Government represented by Assistant United States Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito approved the plea terms tendered to the court.

Oddly, when offered an opportunity by Judge Gonzalez at the sentencing hearing to apologize, at first defendant Flowler declined. After a recess, Fowler returned and said a very brief, muted apology which the Judge acknowledged as containing a small bit of remorse.

In summary DA Byers noted “I hope that as a result of this process Mr. Fowler does not allow himself to be a puppet for evil in the future.”