Minneapolis Man Indicted for Threats Against Government Officials

MINNEAPOLIS – A federal grand jury returned an indictment against a Minneapolis man for making threats against Hennepin County employees and illegally possessing firearms as a felon.

According to court documents, on June 24, 2021, the Hennepin County District Court issued an arrest warrant for 60-year-old Peter Berry after he failed to appear in court for a hearing.

Berry called an employee of Hennepin County Community Corrections to ask questions about his court appearance. During the call, Berry became angry and began yelling and threatened to “shoot up the place.” That same day, Berry left a voice message for a Hennepin County Probation Officer in which Berry demanded a call back before he starts “killing everybody.”

On June 25, 2021, Berry called a Hennepin County Service Center employee who informed him of the active warrant for his arrest due to his failure to appear in court. Upon learning about the warrant, Berry stated that he was going to “come down and kill everybody, all the judges, clerks, and deputies.”

On June 29, 2021, Berry left a voice message for a Hennepin County Public Defender in which Berry expressed his dissatisfaction with the representation he received in his criminal case and threatened that people were going to die and stated that he knew where the public defender lived.

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According to court documents, on July 10, 2020, and on April 7, 2021, Berry unlawfully possessed three firearms. Because Berry has prior felony convictions in Hennepin, Dakota, and Ramsey Counties, he is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.

Berry is charged with two counts of possessing firearms as a felon and three counts of interstate transmission of threats.