by
CNN
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The FBI on Friday arrested a Texas man who allegedly called and threatened a Boston doctor who provided care to transgender people, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a news release.
Matthew Jordan Lindner, 38, was indicted on one count of interstate threat transmission and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston at “a later date,” according to the statement. He is being held without bail, The New York Times reported.
CNN has reached out to Lindner’s attorney for comment.
According to a criminal complaint, false information began to spread on social media in August alleging that health care providers at Boston Children’s Hospital were performing hysterectomies and gender-affirming surgeries on patients under the age of 18. Hospital staff have said that was not true and that hysterectomies and gender-affirming surgeries were not performed on patients under the age of 18, according to the complaint.
The hospital, which calls itself “home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United States,” said in August that it faced numerous violent threats for offering such care, adding that its staff and doctors have been harassed over the phone. . email and social media. The threats increased after misinformation began to spread, CNN previously reported.
On August 31, the Fenway Institute’s National Center for LGBTQIA+ Health Education, also in Boston, received a voicemail from a person who threatened to injure and kill a doctor at the center who specializes in sexual and sexual health issues. he is a “gender-affirming care advocate.” ”, according to the complaint.
In the voicemail, the caller threatened that there was a “group of people on their way to take care of (the doctor)” and that the doctor had signed his own “court order,” according to a transcript in the complaint.
Investigators determined that Lindner was the one who made the threatening call and that he has a firearms license, according to the complaint. The document does not specify why she allegedly targeted the health education center and how the threats were linked to the online falsehoods.
The Health Education Center “provides educational programs, resources, and consultation to health care organizations with the goal of improving quality and cost-effective health care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and all sexual and gender minorities. (LGBTQIA+),” according to their website.
The case comes amid increased violence and threats against LGBTQ communities. Last year was the deadliest on record for the transgender community, and an unprecedented number of anti-transgender laws were introduced across the country.
In November, a 22-year-old shooter entered an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing at least five people and wounding more than two dozen.
In a statement on the Lindner case on Friday, Massachusetts US Attorney Rachael S. Rollins said that “although the Doctor is clearly a victim, Mr. Lindner’s threat is rooted in hatred of the LGBTQIA+ community and the families, friends and people who love and support them. They are also victims.”
“There used to be a respite and a safe haven from harm or attack in our schools, churches, hospitals and courthouses. We used to extend that decency and respect to even our fiercest adversaries. Sadly, those days seem to be long gone,” Rollins said, adding that the charges show law enforcement and prosecutors “will scour the country to ensure the safety and well-being of the people of Massachusetts.”
If convicted, Lindner faces up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
