An Orange County man pleaded guilty last week to threatening violence against employees of Merriam-Webster because he was angered by dictionary definitions of “girl,” “woman” and “female.”
Jeremy David Hanson, 34, of Rossmoor, appeared in federal court in Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 8 and entered the plea to two counts of interstate communication of threatening communications to commit violence — one against Merriam-Webster, the other targeting the president of the University of North Texas, said a press release Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5; the maximum is five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.
Hanson was arrested in April of this year in connection with threatening messages and online comments made in October 2021 on the website of the Merriam-Webster. As a result of the threats, the dictionary company closed its offices in Springfield and New York City for several days.
The comments accused the company of “blatant lies and … anti-science propaganda,” referring to the use of the term “gender identity” in definitions for “girl” and “female.”
Among the threats:
- “There is no such thing as ‘gender identity.’ The imbecile who wrote this entry should be hunted down and shot.”
- “You headquarters should be shot up and bombed. … You evil Marxists should all be killed. It would be poetic justice to have someone storm your offices and shoot up the place, leaving none of you commies alive.”
- “I am going to shoot up and bomb your offices for lying and creating fake definitions. … I will assassinate your top editor.”
The threatening email to University of North Texas President Neal Smatresk, on March 3, 2022, referred to a speaking engagement at the Denton campus the previous day by a legislative candidate who supported outlawing sexual reassignment surgeries for children. Campus police shut down the event early, citing “aggressive” protesters.
As part of his plea agreement, Hanson submitted a statement in which he admitted sending threatening communications to other companies and individuals, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Walt Disney Co., a New York rabbi and professors at Loyola Marymount University. He said he frequently targeted people for their gender, gender identity and/or sexual orientation.
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