Columbus man gets prison for threatening to bomb reproductive health care clinic

Jordan Laird, The Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Brime, 26, of Columbus' Eastland area, was sentenced Wednesday to one year and one day in prison for twice calling a local reproductive health care clinic last year and threatening to kill his then-girlfriend, a prospective patient, and bomb the clinic.
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Brime, 26, of Columbus' Eastland area, was sentenced Wednesday to one year and one day in prison for twice calling a local reproductive health care clinic last year and threatening to kill his then-girlfriend, a prospective patient, and bomb the clinic.

A Columbus man who last year threatened to bomb a reproductive health care clinic and kill his then-girlfriend because he thought she was a prospective patient seeking an abortion there has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison.

U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. sentenced 26-year-old Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Brime on Wednesday morning in federal court in Columbus. Brime, who was a resident of the Eastland area, pleaded guilty in February. 

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According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus, Brime made two phone calls on April 11, 2021, to Your Choice Healthcare on Karl Road, a local reproductive health care clinic.

In the first call, Brime told an on-call staff member that his girlfriend was a patient and warned, "I’m going to bring the heat ... "If she kills my baby, I’m going to kill her,” court documents state.

In the second call, Brime threatened to bring a bomb to the facility.

"I suggest you close your doors," he told the clinic, according to court records.

Brime's actions violated the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a federal crime to threaten with force or intimidate anyone receiving or providing reproductive health services.

“Reproductive health providers and people seeking access to these services must be able to do so free from violence and threats of violence,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. “This sentencing should send a strong message that the Justice Department will continue to aggressively enforce the FACE Act and hold those accountable who violate the law.”

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth Parker said threatening the life of anyone who seeks any type of health services is a heinous act that should not be tolerated.

“People must handle their disagreements to positions that are contrary to theirs in a more civil way than using the threat of force or any kind of intimidation," Parker said.

Jordan Laird is a criminal justice reporter at the Columbus Dispatch. You can reach her at jlaird@dispatch.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @LairdWrites.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bomb threat to reproductive health clinic gets Columbus prison time