Are Threats a Crime in Michigan? Threats, Intimidation and Assault

A threat can be a crime in Michigan, but there is no single "threat" statute that covers domestic situations. Which law applies depends on how the threat was made and what it was meant to do. A threatening act that would make a reasonable person fear an immediate battery can be an assault.^[1] A threat that is part of a pattern of harassment can make the pattern aggravated stalking.^[4] A threat sent by phone or text, a threat made to force someone to do something, and a threat aimed at a witness each fall under their own statutes.^[7][11][12]

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is free and confidential and answers around the clock at 1-800-799-7233 or by texting START to 88788.^[13] Michigan's statewide VOICES4 hotline takes calls and texts at 855-864-2374.^[14][15]

Threat offenses at a glance

Offense	The threat it covers	Level and maximum
Assault or domestic assault, MCL 750.81	An act that would cause a reasonable person to fear an immediate battery	93 days, $500 for a first offense[1][16]
Felonious assault, MCL 750.82	The same, committed with a dangerous weapon	4 years, $2,000[17][18]
Aggravated stalking, MCL 750.411i	A stalking course of conduct that includes one or more credible threats	5 years, $10,000[4][6]
Malicious use of a telecommunications service, MCL 750.540e	Threatening physical harm or property damage by phone, text or message, with intent to terrorize, frighten, intimidate, threaten, harass, molest, or annoy	6 months, $1,000[7]
Cyberbullying, MCL 750.411x	A post in a public media forum intended to place a person in fear of bodily harm or death and expressing an intent to commit violence, posted with intent to communicate a threat or knowing it will be viewed as one	93 days, $500 for a first offense[19]
Extortion, MCL 750.213	A malicious threat of injury, or of accusing someone of a crime, made to obtain money or to compel the person to do or not do something against his or her will	20 years or $10,000[11]
Witness intimidation, MCL 750.122	A threat or intimidation used to discourage or influence testimony	4 years, $5,000; up to 15 years, $25,000 if it involves a threat to kill or injure[12][8]
Threatening to harm an animal, MCL 750.50b	A threat to kill or torture an animal, made with intent to cause a person mental suffering or to exert control over the person	A felony; for a companion animal, at least second degree, up to 7 years[20][21]

When is a threat an assault?

Michigan's model jury instructions define an assault as "an attempt to commit a battery or an act that would cause a reasonable person to fear or apprehend an immediate battery."^[1] The second half of that definition is the one that covers threats. For an assault without any touching, the prosecutor has to prove three things:

1. The act would cause a reasonable person to fear an immediate battery.^[1]
2. The defendant intended either to commit a battery or to make the other person reasonably fear an immediate battery.^[2]
3. At the time, the defendant had the ability to commit a battery, appeared to have the ability, or thought he or she had the ability.^[3]

No injury is needed.^[22] If the people involved are spouses, former spouses, dating partners, co-parents or household members, the same act can be charged as domestic assault.^[16] See Assault vs. battery in Michigan and Can you be charged without an injury?

Threats with a weapon

Adding a dangerous weapon makes the assault a felony. The elements of felonious assault are the same as for an assault, plus the weapon; contact and injury are not required.^[18] An object designed for peaceful purposes becomes a dangerous weapon if the person "threatened to use" it, or used it, in a way that was likely to cause serious physical injury or death.^[23]

What about threats of future harm and conditional threats?

The assault definition is built around fear of an immediate battery.^[1] A statement such as "if you ever leave, I will hurt you" describes something in the future and is conditional, so it does not fit that definition as neatly as a raised fist. The sources reviewed for this guide do not state a separate rule for conditional threats. Other statutes, though, have no immediacy requirement:

• Credible threat. The aggravated stalking statute covers a threat to kill or physically injure "made in any manner or in any context" that causes the person hearing or receiving it to reasonably fear for his or her safety or another person's.^[5]
• Telecommunications. The statute on malicious use of a telecommunications service lists threatening physical harm or damage to any person or property among its prohibited acts.^[7]
• Extortion. Extortion is conditional by nature: it covers a malicious threat made with intent to compel the person threatened to do or refrain from doing an act against his or her will.^[11]
• Witnesses. The witness tampering statute applies to threats about a present or future official proceeding.^[12]

Threats as part of stalking

Stalking is a willful course of conduct, meaning two or more separate acts, involving repeated or continuing harassment that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested, and that actually has that effect.^[24][25] It is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year.^[26]

Stalking becomes aggravated stalking, a felony, if the course of conduct includes "the making of 1 or more credible threats against the victim, a member of the victim's family, or another individual living in the same household as the victim."^[4] A credible threat is one of four alternative aggravators; the others are a violation of a restraining order, a violation of a probation, parole or bond condition, and a previous stalking conviction.^[4] See Aggravated stalking and Stalking law in Michigan.

Threats by phone, text or online

Malicious use of a telecommunications service requires a malicious use with intent to terrorize, frighten, intimidate, threaten, harass, molest, or annoy another person, by one of seven listed acts. Threatening physical harm or damage to any person or property is the first of them.^[7] Since February 13, 2024 there is a domestic-relationship version of the offense; the maximum is the same, but a conviction is a "misdemeanor involving domestic violence" for firearm purposes.^[27]

Online, two more statutes can apply. Cyberbullying covers a post in a public media forum that is intended to place a person in fear of bodily harm or death and expresses an intent to commit violence against the person, if it is posted with the intent to communicate a threat or with knowledge that it will be viewed as a threat.^[19] Unlawfully posting a message is punished more heavily, up to 5 years, when the posting results in a credible threat being communicated to the victim or a family or household member.^[28] See Malicious use of telecommunications and Online harassment and posting messages.

Intimidation of witnesses and people who report

Threats made after an incident can be separate crimes. Three provisions come up in domestic cases:

• Witness tampering by threat. It is a crime to discourage or influence testimony, or to encourage someone to avoid legal process, by threat or intimidation.^[12] The base offense is a felony of up to 4 years, rising to 15 years when the violation involves a threat to kill or injure any person or to cause property damage.^[8]
• Retaliation. Threatening to retaliate against a person for having been a witness in an official proceeding is a felony punishable by up to 10 years.^[29]
• Statements to police. Threatening or intimidating any person to influence a statement to a police officer investigating a crime is a misdemeanor of up to 1 year, or a felony of up to 10 years if it involves a threat to kill or injure.^[9]

Threats can also affect the pending case: based on any credible evidence of acts or threats of physical violence or intimidation by the defendant against the victim or the victim's immediate family, the prosecutor may move to revoke bond.^[30] See Witness tampering and intimidation.

What is not a criminal threat

Not every angry statement is a crime. As quoted in Michigan's Domestic Violence Benchbook, "true threats" include statements by which the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group, and true threats of violence fall outside First Amendment protection and are punishable as crimes.^[10] Speech that is offensive and in poor taste but is not a threat is protected.^[10] The stalking statute builds this in: harassment does not include constitutionally protected activity or conduct that serves a legitimate purpose.^[31]

For an assault charge, what can be disputed starts with the elements themselves: whether a reasonable person would have feared an immediate battery, whether that was the intent, and whether there was any apparent ability to carry it out.^[1][2][3] See Defenses to domestic violence charges.

How threats are proved

A defendant's own threat is not hearsay; it is an opposing party's statement.^[32] In People v Kowalak, the Court of Appeals treated a defendant's threat to kill as an admission by a party opponent, and held that a witness's testimony relaying the threat was a separate statement, admissible under the excited utterance exception.^[33] In People v Meissner, a complainant's statements to police describing threatening text messages were admitted under MCL 768.27c because they described threats of physical injury and were made at or very near the time she received the messages.^[34]

Since April 2, 2025, that statute defines "infliction or threat of physical injury" broadly, to include threatening to harm or physically restrain any individual and creating a scheme intended to make a person believe that failing to do something would result in physical, psychological, reputational or financial harm.^[35] Screenshots and message records raise their own questions of authenticity, covered in Text messages and social media evidence.

Civil orders based on threats

A domestic relationship personal protection order may prohibit "threatening to kill or physically injure a named individual," and the court issues the order on reasonable cause to believe the respondent may commit a listed act.^[36][37] An extreme risk protection order can rest on acts or significant threats that substantially support an expectation that the person will, in the near future, seriously physically injure himself, herself or another individual by possessing a firearm.^[38] And an older remedy, the peace bond, begins with a sworn complaint that a person has threatened to commit an offense against the person or property of another.^[39] See What a PPO can prohibit, Extreme risk protection orders and Peace bonds.