A 60-year-old longtime felon has been charged with unleashing a string of threats this past summer to kill "all the judges, clerks and deputies" among other public employees in Hennepin County.
Peter R. Berry, of Minneapolis, was charged in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis with three counts of interstate transmission of threats in connection with telephone calls he allegedly made over several days in late June to various county offices.
Berry was also charged with two counts of possessing firearms as a felon, facing allegations that he possessed two pistols and a rifle in the months leading up to when he allegedly called in his threats.
Berry was indicted Wednesday, appeared in court and was jailed without bail because he "is a flight risk, and by clear and convincing evidence … is a danger to the community," U.S. Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer wrote.
Berry's attorney, Kyle White, declined Thursday to respond to the allegations.
While the Hennepin County Government Center is accessible at the street and skyway levels without screening, there are deputies stationed there along with security personnel during business hours and at other times.
Access to the courthouse and its offices does require passing through staffed metal detectors, which were installed in 2005 after a 2003 shooting there.
Susan R. Berkovitz, 52, of St. Paul, killed her cousin, Shelley Joseph-Kordell, and wounded her cousin's attorney, Richard Hendrickson, after a long legal battle over the $170,000 estate of Berkovitz's father. Berkovitz had accused them of financial misconduct. The 70-year-old Berkovitz was convicted in 2004 and is currently serving a life sentence in the Shakopee prison.
