In this Forum file photo, Fargo police responded to a disturbance between Tyson Kuznia, left, and Nikolaus Severson, right, outside the Red River Women’s Clinic in downtown Fargo, N.D. on Sunday, October 25, 2015.
Fargo man fined for fight outside women's clinic
By Adrian Glass-Moore on Apr 14, 2016 at 4:33 p.m.
FARGO – A judge has ordered a Fargo man to pay a $400 fine for fighting someone outside the downtown Red River Women's Clinic last year.
In October, Nikolaus Severson was goading anti-abortion protesters picketing outside the only clinic that performs abortions in North Dakota when a passer-by spit in his face.
Severson "grabbed the victim, threw him to the ground and sat on him," prosecutor Ian R. McLean said in Municipal Court on Thursday, April 14.
Severson, through his attorney Tatum O'Brien Lindbo, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, under an agreement reached with prosecutors. Judge Stephen Dawson granted him a deferred imposition of sentence, meaning the conviction will likely be wiped from his record. Severson did not attend the hearing.
Tyson Kuznia, who spit on Severson before being tackled, was also ordered to pay $400 and granted a deferred imposition of sentence when a Municipal Court judge found him guilty Jan. 14 of a misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Kuznia said he felt compelled to spit on Severson because Severson was harassing anti-abortion protesters.
Severson irritated the anti-abortion protesters for several days, holding up signs like "F--- these haters." In an interview late last year, Severson said he has no stance on abortion because he is not a woman. But he said, "I just don't like people using God to shame women."