A Texas man has been handed a three-month prison sentence after leaving a chilling voicemail threatening a Boston doctor who provides care to transgender patients, officials said yesterday. The 39-year-old from Comfort, Texas, identified as Matthew Jordan Lindner, will also face three years of supervised release and must pay restitution totaling $2,986, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Lindner called the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center affiliated with the Boston Children’s Hospital last August and targeted a doctor in a voicemail, in the aftermath of misinformation spread online regarding the doctor's work with gender nonconforming children. "You sick motherf*****s, you’re all gonna burn. There’s a group of people on their way to handle [victim]. You signed your own warrant, lady. Castrating our children. You’ve woken up enough people. And upset enough of us. And you signed your own ticket. Sleep well, you f****** c***," Lindner said in the voicemail as obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office press release.
The senior U.S. District Judge William G. Young handed down the sentence to Lindner after he pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transmission of threatening communication in December 2023. This office will aggressively investigate and prosecute acts of hate and intimidation. Threatening a medical doctor providing essential care to children is deplorable. No one in this country should live in fear for their safety because of their identity, gender, race, religion ,or beliefs. Full stop.” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, signaling a clear intolerance for acts of hate.
Lindner's campaign of intimidation didn't stop with the voicemail; he persistently tried contacting the victim, including calls to the victim's former medical practice and a university where the victim was a faculty member. Jodi Cohen, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, issued a stark reminder regarding the impact of such threats. “Imagine the terror of having your life threatened for just doing your job. Matthew Lindner accosted a physician for doing exactly that, and in doing so instilled unnecessary fear in the medical community,” Cohen said in a statement.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian A. Fogerty and K. Nathaniel Yeager of the Criminal Division. Both officials, along with Acting U.S. Attorney Levy and FBI SAC Cohen.
