A man accused of threatening to bomb the offices of Merriam-Webster over its dictionary definitions of “boy” and “girl” was arrested, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
His alleged threats resulted in a shutdown of the company’s offices at its headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts, and in New York for five days in October, prosecutors said. The man is accused of making similar threats to several more companies.
California resident Jeremy David Hanson, 34, of Rossmoor, was charged with one count of interstate communication of threats to commit violence, according to an April 22 news release from the attorney’s office. McClatchy News contacted Hanson’s lawyer for comment on April 25 and was awaiting a response.
Between Oct. 2 and 8, Merriam-Webster received several messages threatening violence through its online “Contact Us” page and in the comments section under dictionary entries of certain gender identities, the attorney’s office said. Some comments included “opinions about certain controversial topics.”
“I am going to shoot up and bomb your offices for lying and creating fake definitions. … Boys aren’t girls, and girls aren’t boys,” a message Hanson is accused of sending that was received by Merriam-Webster on Oct. 8 said, according to court documents obtained by McClatchy News.
Hanson is also accused of posting similar comments expressing “hostility” under the dictionary entries for “female” and “trans woman,” a criminal complaint detailed. One of Hanson’s alleged comments under the definition of “female” said: “It is absolutely sickening that Merriam-Webster now tells blatant lies and promotes anti-science propaganda. There is no such thing as ‘gender identity.’
The imbecile who wrote this entry should be hunted down and shot,” according to the complaint. It was posted with the username @anonYmous. Merriam-Webster notified the FBI of the messages, and an investigation linked the threats to Hanson, the complaint said. Ultimately, “numerous related threats” made against institutions and companies, including the American Civil Liberties Union, DC Comics, Hasbro, Land O’Lakes and the Walt Disney Company, were identified, according to federal investigators.
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In April 2020, Hanson is accused of writing an Instagram comment to the ACLU that said “the ACLU is a shameless partisan hack that hates freedom, hates America. I’d like to go on a shooting spree in their offices.” Nearly a year later, in March 2021, Hanson allegedly messaged toy company Hasbro and wrote “I am going to shoot up and bomb your headquarters. … Mr. Potato head is male,” according to the complaint.
Hanson is also accused of making threats against a rabbi in New York, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, the University of North Texas and Amnesty International, among other institutions, prosecutors said. “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 R. Bonavolonta said in a statement. If convicted, Hanson faces a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, according to the news release.
