Woman threatens to bomb Catholic school over same-sex wedding notices, feds say

A California woman pleaded guilty to a hate crime after threatening to bomb a Catholic school in Washington, D.C., the Justice Department said Monday.

Sonia Tabizada, 36, of San Jacinto pleaded guilty to “intentionally obstructing persons in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs,” according to a Justice Department news release.

Federal officials said Tabizada made threats after Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, a Catholic school for girls, announced in May 2019 that it would publish same-sex wedding announcements in its alumni magazine. According to the plea agreement, Tabizada learned about the announcement and left a voice message on May 15, 2019, threatening to bomb and burn the church and also said she was going to kill students and school officials., the release said.

Tabizada left a second voice message saying she was going to blow up the school and would commit “terrorism,” officials said.

“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,” Eric Drieband, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in the release. “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.”

Tabizada doesn’t have any known connections to the school and could’ve learned about the announcements through the news, NBC News reported.

Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School’s president emeritus, Sister Mary Berchmans Hannan, said in a 2019 letter obtained by The Washington Post that the church “is equally clear in its teaching that we are all children of God, that we each have dignity and are worthy of respect and love.”

Tabizada is scheduled to be sentenced on March 23 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervised release, officials said.

This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Woman threatens to bomb Catholic school over same-sex wedding notices, feds say."