A California man will appear in Massachusetts federal court later this week after allegedly threatening violence against Merriam-Webster over its dictionary definitions mentioning gender identity, federal prosecutors announced last Friday.
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The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said that Jeremy Hanson, a 34-year-old Orange County man, was arrested last Tuesday and charged with one count of interstate communication of threats to commit violence.
Hanson, according to a criminal complaint, sent "various threatening messages" to Merriam-Webster between Oct. 2 and Oct. 8, 2021, prompting the company to close its Springfield, Mass. and New York offices for about five business days.
He allegedly wrote that it "would be poetic justice to have someone storm your offices and shoot up the place, leaving none of you commies alive" via a "Contact Us" form on the Merriam-Webster website. Hanson also allegedly commented on the website’s definition of "female" that the "imbecile who wrote this entry should be hunted down and shot."
"Everyone has a right to express their opinion, but repeatedly threatening to kill people, as has been alleged, takes it to a new level," FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta said in a release last Friday. "We are always going to pursue individuals who try to intimidate and isolate members of our community by inciting violent, hateful acts. Threats to life are most certainly not protected speech and they cause real fear in victims."
Hanson's arrest comes amid a wave of legislation across the U.S. targeting transgender people, and in the aftermath of what the Humans Rights Council said was the deadliest year on record for transgender and gender-noncomforming Americans.
Prosecutors alleged that Hanson also left threatening messages in the comments sections of the dictionary’s definitions of "Girl" and "Woman," as well as “numerous related threats” to Land O’Lakes and Hasbro.
The two companies, respectively, became political flashpoints in recent years for replacing its logo of a Native American woman and using gender-neutral language in promoting its Potato Head products. Merriam-Webster has, too, for updating certain dictionary definitions to reflect shifting societal attitudes about gender.
Hanson will appear in Springfield federal court this Friday, according to prosecutors. If convicted, Hanson could serve up to five years in prison and three years under supervised release. He could also pay a fine of up to $250,000.
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