Sunday, December 04, 2022

Texas man arrested on federal charges for threatening physician who provides care to transgender community

People need to recognize before things get worse.

From The Texas Tribune:

A Texas man was arrested Friday on a federal charge that he left a threatening voicemail message for one Boston doctor who provides care to the transgender community, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Massachusetts. The man, Matthew Jordan Lindner, 38, of the Hill Country town of Comfort, was charged with one count of transmitting interstate threats. Comfort is in Kendall County, about 50 miles northwest of San Antonio. 

Lindner, whose company Lindner Ammo was a federal firearms license in 2019, is accused of leaving a voicemail message on Aug. 31 threatening to kill the doctor who works at the Boston-based National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center. Following the phone call to the Boston doctor an FBI agent stated in an affidavit that Lindner called two other phone numbers assigned to a Rhode Island university where the doctor is a faculty member.

 The calls were made from his company’s number, according to AT&T phone records cited by federal investigators. Lindner was arrested Friday morning and made an initial appearance in the Western District of Texas. He is being held without bail . . .

This is the latest in a series of threats which children's hospitals and physicians who treat transgender patients have been receiving this year because of a right-wing campaign of lies involving gender-affirming care for trans kids. Certain individuals have falsely claimed that gender-affirming care for trans children entails hysterectomies.

According to NBC News:

NBC News previously reported that social media accounts such as LibsofTikTok have fanned the flames in recent weeks, making numerous claims including that Boston Children's Hospital is providing gender-affirming hysterectomies to children younger than 18. Conservative influencers have shared the allegations with their millions of followers without evidence. The medical facility has denied that it provides such care to children under 18 and multiple fact-checking organizations have debunked the claim.

In August, Catherine Leavy, a Massachusetts resident, was arrested for making a bomb threat hoax to the Boston Children's Hospital.