Man convicted of threats against Obama

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 Tauberton on charges stemming 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-Senator 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.