Man who threatened school board member sentenced | Exclusive
A man threatened to kill Edwin Ferguson after the school board member made comments about the slain activist Charlie Kirk. Here’s how he’ll pay.
The Palm Beach Post | By: Wayne Washington | September 4, 2026
- The threat was made after the board member, Edwin Ferguson, called slain conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk a “racist bigot.”
- Ferguson said the threat caused him and his family significant stress and fear for their safety.
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.
Palm Beach County School Board member Edwin Ferguson received a threatening voice message after his comments about Charlie Kirk.
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.
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.”
Palm Beach County School Board member calls Charlie Kirk ‘racist bigot’
At a school board meeting, Edwin Ferguson responded to a warning issued by the state’s education commissioner regarding commentary about Charlie Kirk.
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.’ “
Charlie Kirk supporters protest school board member Ferguson while NAACP show support
Charlie Kirk supporters protested outside the School District of Palm Beach County over comments made by School board member Edwin Ferguson.
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.
