By Astrid Galvan
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE — Albuquerque police confiscated the guns of a man who allegedly threatened to shoot protesters who heckled him outside an abortion clinic, according to an incident report.
The incident started Saturday around 9:30 a.m., when the man was walking into the Southwestern Women’s Options on 522 Lomas NE with his wife and teenage daughter.
As the family walked in, a woman protesting the clinic asked whether she could pray for them and the baby. The man responded that he did not believe in God. He told police he felt verbally assaulted because the protesters yelled at them and told his family they were going to hell if they got an abortion, according to the report.
The family then walked into the building.
A few minutes later, the man walked out to his car. The protester again approached him, telling him, “Jesus loves him,” according to the complaint.
The man then allegedly told the protester if she said anything to his daughter, who was getting an abortion, he would “put a bullet” in her heart, according to the report. The man placed his hand on his right hip as if reaching for a gun but didn’t actually have a weapon, witnesses said.
One of the protesters called police.
When police arrived, they found the man was unarmed but had weapons in his car that he said he was going to use at a shooting range. He said he was already stressed by the situation and felt worse when the protesters told him he would go to hell.
The man was not arrested, but police confiscated a rifle, a pistol and several magazines. Police said they were likely returned to him the next day.
Copyright 2010 Albuquerque Journal