A 65-year old Georgia man was sentenced on Sept. 3 to three months in jail for threatening to kill Palm Beach County School Board Member Edwin Ferguson, who had angered some in September 2025 by noting the racist comments of recently-slain conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk.
Henry Paul DeMarco pled guilty to a single count of interstate transmission of a threat after leaving a curse-laden voicemail for Ferguson on Sept. 19, 2025, that called Ferguson a racial slur and told him "we're going to blow your Black head off."
DeMarco left the message on Ferguson's office telephone. Court records indicate he made multiple efforts to reach Ferguson and traveled from his home in Georgia to South Florida on Sept. 21, 2025, when he called but did not reach the school
board member. DeMarco also called the Palm Beach County School Board, court records show.
Kirk, an ally of President Donald Trump who developed a passionate following among some conservatives, was shot to death on Sept. 10, 2025, sparking a wave of grief among those who supported him. Many other Americans, however, were repelled by some of Kirk's commentary and took to social media to note that they would not be joining in the outpouring of grief.
Some conservative government leaders, including then-Florida Education Secretary Anastasios Kamoutsas, told government employees that, if they posted comments on social media that could be interpreted as celebrating Kirk's death, they could be disciplined or fired.
Amid a wave of suspensions on college campuses, Ferguson said he sought to assuage the fears of teachers who had reached out to him, worried their free speech rights were being infringed upon and concerned that they could lose their jobs.
During a school board meeting on Sept. 17, 2025, Ferguson called Kirk "a racist bigot," urged teachers to be careful when making public comments about him and questioned how a teacher could lose their certificate.
"Unless you as a parent or you as a teacher feel bad, because I as a teacher don't miss a racist, a racist bigot at that, I don't see how you're going to be at risk of losing your teaching certificate," Ferguson said. "When we talk about the Holocaust, I've yet to hear a person of the Jewish faith say that I miss Adolf Hitler."
The board member said Kirk "said a lot of toxic things that were very undermining to society at large, and we want to never forget that and we want to be better than that."
Voicemail threat haunted Ferguson day and night
Ferguson, an attorney and a married father of two, got multiple threatening telephone calls, and Trump supporters denounced him during a rally and subsequent school board meeting.
Civil rights activists held a rally in support of Ferguson, but DeMarco's threat would soon begin having an effect on the school board member, who reported it to the Riviera Beach Police Department.
"Upon exiting the police station, I went home and did not leave my house for three days out of fear for my safety," Ferguson wrote in a victim impact statement.
"Even after my self-imposed house arrest ended, I still felt the as if the defendant was going to follow through on his threat to kill me. Up until the defendant's arrest, every day was extremely stressful for me, and every aspect of my life suffered as a result. I woke up each day thinking, 'Is this guy going to come after me today?' and went to bed each night concerned that, 'Maybe tomorrow is the day.' "
Not knowing the identity of the person who threatened him made things worse, he said.
"Every day outside my home was extremely stressful," Ferguson. "While I assumed the person who left the threatening voicemail on September 19, 2025 was a Caucasian male — based on the sound of his voice — I had no way determining his identity.
"Was it the gentleman standing across the street appearing to wait for the bus? Was it the gentleman I saw as I was exercising at the beach. Was it the gentleman who seemed to stare for a seemingly unusually long time as I walked to my car? I would not wish the tension I carried during the time on my worst enemy."
DeMarco's attorneys argued in court documents that DeMarco struggled with alcohol abuse and depression. They said he was under the influence of alcohol at the time he threatened Ferguson. And their court filings included a statement of remorse DeMarco wrote to Ferguson.
"Although I never intended to cause any harm, I accept full responsibility for my despicable actions in leaving a threatening voicemail. While this was done while under the influence of alcohol, it is certainly not an excuse or defense," DeMarco wrote, according court filings.
Sentencing guidelines called for DeMarco to face zero to six months in jail. His attorneys asked for probation, and prosecutors sought three months. Ferguson said he thought a year in prison would be appropriate.
"The defendant's threat to my life has irreparably harmed me, and if not punished sends a message to other elected officials that their lives can be threatened with little risk of punishment," Ferguson wrote in his statement.
Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks sentenced DeMarco to three months in jail with three years of probation.
Ferguson said he and his family are still impacted by the threat. He said he struggled to relay to the judge what it was like learning that his 7-year old daughter knew of it.
"I was talking about the fact that, around December, my 7-year old daughter was doing a Google search," Ferguson said. "She gets a kick out of that. 'My dad at school work.' So she looks it up and, like, one of the first things she saw was about this threat. She's like, 'Daddy, who wants to kill you?'
"Who wants to have a conversation with their daughter about somebody threatening to kill you. That's the part that hurt, you know? I said to the judge, 'I imagine that will be a thought in her mind until the day she passes.' "
Wayne Washington is a journalist covering education and Riviera Beach development for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Man who threatened school board member sentenced | Exclusive
