Man pleads guilty in Raleigh mayor threat case

A man accused of threatening Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane pleaded guilty Friday to a lesser charge, according to federal court records.

Alec Dane Redner, 27, was arrested in January after he allegedly sent McFarlane a message through her website. According to police, Redner told her to “watch out” and that she would soon be “on the other end of the barrel” over comments she supposedly made about the Constitution.

He was indicted in March on a federal charge of communicating a threat against an individual.

Defense attorney John Wiles tried to get the charge dismissed, arguing that Redner’s message was a political statement and not a “true threat” of violence and that prosecuting him would violate his First Amendment rights.

That gambit failed, however, when U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle ruled last month that Redner’s message was political in nature.

Redner pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting obstruction of justice. He is scheduled to be sentenced in October.