Justice Department: “A California man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Springfield, Mass for making threats to commit anti-LGBTQ violence against Springfield-based dictionary company Merriam-Webster, Inc and others. Jeremy David Hanson, 34, of Rossmoor, Calif, was sentenced by US District Court Judge Mark G Mastroianni to one year and one day in prison and three years of supervised release. In September 2022, Hanson pleaded guilty to one count of interstate communication of threatening communications to commit violence against the employees of Merriam-Webster, and to another count charging the same offense, initially filed in the Eastern District of Texas, targeting the President of the University of North Texas.”

“Between Oct 2 and Oct 8, 2021, Springfield-based Merriam-Webster, Inc. received various threatening messages and comments demonstrating bias against specific gender identities submitted through its website’s ‘Contact Us’ page and in the comments section on its webpages that corresponded to the word entries for ‘Girl’ and ‘Woman.’ Authorities later identified the user as Hanson. Specifically, on Oct 2, 2021, Hanson used the handle ‘@anonYmous’ to post the following comment on the dictionary’s website definition of ‘female.’ ‘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.’ That same day, Hanson also sent threatening messages via the website’s ‘Contact Us’ page. On Oct 8, 2021, Hanson posted another threatening comment on the dictionary’s website and a threatening message via the ‘Contact Us’ page that read: ‘I am going to shoot up and bomb your offices for lying and creating fake definitions in order to pander to the tranny mafia. Boys aren’t girls, and girls aren’t boys. The only good Marxist is a dead Marxist. I will assassinate your top editor. You sickening, vile tranny freaks.’ As a result of the threats, Merriam-Webster temporarily closed its offices in Springfield, Mass. and New York City.”