Man Accused Of Threatening To Kill And Eat Professor In Rant Over Abortion
Someone in America getting arrested for directing violent threats at public figures is, sadly, not a rare occasion these days, with multiple arrests of that nature in the news in just the last few weeks.
It is rare, however, for cannibalism to be part of the threats.
A 30-year-old Rhode Island man did just that, authorities announced this week. According to a press release from the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office, Matthew Haviland was charged with threatening to kill a college professor who is outspoken about abortion rights. Haviland is alleged to have sent more than 25 emails to the professor in one day, at one point stating “I will rip every limb from your body and eat it, piece by piece.”
In other emails, per Mass Live, Haviland declared his desire to “kill every Democrat in the world so we never more have to have our babies brutally murdered by you absolute terrorists.”
The professor was not named, but Haviland is said to have gone to college in Massachusetts. Haviland is not believed to have named specific Democratic politicians. He also made more than 100 threatening calls to an abortion clinic, authorities said, and sent an email to the university where the professor works in which he wished someone would bomb them.
“You will have your face ripped off and eaten by me, personally,” Haviland allegedly wrote to the professor. “I will enjoy raping your body after you’re dead.”
The accused was brought up on charges of cyberstalking and with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, and was to appear in court Wednesday.
In a statement, Andrew E. Lelling, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, said that he has been clear about going after people who make violent threats, regardless of the political ideology targeted or advocated for within the threats.
“Americans are responsible for what they say, and if they put others in fear for their lives, we will prosecute,” Lelling said.
A Trump supporter in Rhode Island threatened to murder Democrats and kill and eat a pro-choice professor, according to prosecutors. A friend says he was angry over the media’s treatment of Trump. https://t.co/nMWUa7DMpC
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) April 24, 2019
Earlier this month per Roll Call, New York man Patrick W. Carlineo Jr. was arrested for threatening to kill Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, while alleging in the same phone call that the congresswoman is an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood. A search of Carlineo’s home found more than 1,000 bullets and illegal firearms. Earlier this week, per Esquire, a man in Florida was arrested for threatening several Democrats, including Omar and presidential candidate Cory Booker.
A man in Puerto Rico, per the Justice Department, was arrested for threatening the life of President Trump in January.
