‘All Democrats must be eradicated:’ Matthew Haviland charged with threatening to kill Massachusetts professor who supports abortion rights

MassLive.com

April 24-- Apr. 24--A Rhode Island man is facing federal charges for allegedly sending death, torture and rape threats to a Massachusetts professor who supports abortion rights and has publicly criticized President Donald Trump.

"I will kill every Democrat in the world so we never more have to have our babies brutally murdered by you absolute terrorists," 30-year-old Matthew Haviland allegedly wrote in a March 10 email to the professor. "I will enjoy ripping the skin from your bodies piece by piece while you scream in agony."

Haviland, who attended college in Boston, was arrested Wednesday on charges of cyberstalking and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. He is scheduled for arraignment this afternoon in federal court in Boston.

According to an affidavit by an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force officer, a long-time friend of Haviland said that his political beliefs had grown increasingly extreme over the last year, with his posts on social media becoming violent and erratic.

In March, he allegedly went further, sending a stream of threatening emails to the professor, who is not identified in the criminal complaint.

Haviland allegedly threatened to kill the professor over the professor's support for abortion rights. The professor, Haviland wrote, was "Josef Stalin" and deserved to be "slaughtered" along with other left-wing people.

"You will have your face ripped off and eaten by me, personally," Haviland allegedly wrote. "I will enjoy raping your body after you're dead."

"In an interview with me, Victim 1 reported being every concerned about the emails listed above," Officer Richard C. Laft Jr. wrote in his affidavit. "Victim 1 stated that he/she expects some hate mail and has a very high tolerance for it, but is very fearful for himself/herself and his/her family as a result of the March 10 emails from Haviland's email account."

Days later, Haviland allegedly emailed threats to a professional school at the professor's university, accusing them of promoting the hatred of white people and saying the school should be "bombed."

Haviland also allegedly left 114 voice messages at a Rhode Island abortion clinic on April 5, expressing anger and comparing a doctor who worked there to a Nazi. He later told law enforcement he had no intent to harm anyone.

"Based on my training and experience, I know that there are extremists on both sides of the abortion debate. I further know that anti-abortion extremists at times justify the use of force as morally necessary," Laft wrote in the affidavit. "Although most anti-abortion extremists are not violent, some have caused injury or death to healthcare providers, economic harm to reproductive health care facilities and the intimidation of staff and patients at those facilities."

Haviland's increasingly erratic behavior sparked concern among people who knew him, Laft wrote. Police in North Kingston, Rhode Island made at least five wellness checks on Haviland since June of last year, including three this month.

During one of those recent checks, Haviland told police that he did not intend on harming himself or anyone else, and the responding officer concluded that he did not appear to pose a threat. But in his affidavit, Laft took Haviland's alleged threats more seriously.

"Based on my training and experience, and information provided from others in the Joint Terrorism Task Force, I believe that people who make statements like Haviland's are difficult to deter and can quickly escalate to increased harassment or violence," Laft wrote.

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