Donald Hertz, who allegedly made death threats against abortion provider Warren Hern and his family, was indicted yesterday by a Denver federal grand jury. Hertz allegedly made the threats in a phone call to the Boulder Abortion Clinic on June 23rd. The threats were made just three weeks after Dr. George Tiller, medical director of the Women’s Health Care Services clinic in Wichita, Kansas, was assassinated at his church.
Dr. Warren Hern told the Denver Post, “We received an anonymous call saying there were two Vietnam veterans coming from Spanish Fork, Utah, to Boulder to hurt my family…My family was terrified, I was frightened, my staff was frightened. My 92-year-old mother was taken from her apartment in the middle of the night, and it was quite a frightening experience, and we took it seriously because Dr. Tiller had just been assassinated.”
The grand jury charged Hertz with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and making an insterstate threat. If convicted, Hertz faces six years in prison and up to $350,000 in fines. The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the Colorado US Attorney’s Office are prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI and US Marshals, according to the PR Newswire.
