Man Pleads Guilty To Threatening Reproductive Health Clinics In Mpls.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 33-year-old Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to threatening two clinics that provide reproductive health services in Minneapolis, the Department of Justice announced Monday.

In his guilty plea, Michael John Harris admitted that on May 12, 2014, he called in threats to two different health clinics.

In his first call, Harris threatened to kill the person on the other end of the call using his bare hands and then cut off the person's head with a band saw. In the second, he also threatened to kill the person who answered the phone and everyone else who worked there, saying he'd go to the clinic and shoot everyone present.

Harris said he made the threats to intimidate people from receiving or providing the clinic's services.

"Our Constitution allows for a healthy debate on important issues of public concern," U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger said. "Threatening the lives of health care workers is not a legitimate means of voicing dissent. Today's guilty plea serves as an important reminder that our disagreements cannot devolve into violent threats."

Harris faces up to one year in prison for each of the two charges against him.