Luke Daniel Wiersma Charged in Clinic Threats

Chicago, IL — A 33-year-old Indiana man is staring down federal charges after allegedly threatening to bomb and burn down women’s reproductive health clinics in Chicago and northwest Indiana. Luke Daniel Wiersma of Dyer, Ind., is accused of posting violent threats online at least seven times between October and November of last year, directly targeting two clinics that provide reproductive and counseling services.

Wiersma stands charged with transmitting threats to injure and using threats of force to intimidate or interfere with reproductive health services, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The charges stem from messages submitted through the clinics’ official websites, where Wiersma allegedly ranted about stopping what he called the “unmitigated murders of fetuses” and vowed to “blow you up if I have to, burn the clinic down.” One message, dated Oct. 29, 2017, included explicit calls for violence against staff and facilities.

The Chicago clinic targeted provides reproductive health services, while the Hammond, Ind., facility offers reproductive-related counseling. Both institutions reported the threats, triggering a joint investigation by federal and local authorities. Wiersma was arrested Tuesday and is set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney I. Schenkier on Feb. 9, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. for a detention hearing.

John R. Lausch, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Chicago office, announced the charges. The FBI’s Indianapolis field office and the Dyer, Ind., Police Department also provided critical investigative support. The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abigail Peluso and Georgia Alexakis.

If convicted, Wiersma faces a maximum of five years in prison for transmitting a threat to injure and up to one year for using threats to interfere with reproductive health services. Under federal sentencing guidelines, any punishment handed down must be reasonable and consistent with statutory mandates and advisory sentencing rules.

Authorities emphasize that the complaint is not evidence of guilt. Wiersma is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, where the burden rests entirely on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The case highlights escalating tensions around reproductive access and the federal crackdown on violent extremism targeting healthcare providers.