A California man was arrested and charged on Tuesday after allegedly threatening to bomb a publishing company over its dictionary definitions of the words “girl,” “woman,” or “female.”
If convicted, Hanson could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, of which three years would be supervised release, and be fined $250,000.
According to a criminal complaint, Merriam-Webster Inc. received a number of threatening messages and comments between Oct. 2, 2021, and Oct. 8, 2021, that targeted specific gender identity definitions through the website’s “contact us” page.
As a result of these threats, the Springfield-based publisher had to close its offices in Springfield and New York City for approximately five business days.
“You [sic] headquarters should be shot up and bombed. It is sickening that you have caved to the cultural Marxist, anti-science tranny [sic] agenda and altered the definition of ‘female’ as part of the Left’s efforts to corrupt and degrade the English language and deny reality. 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,” Hanson allegedly sent to the publisher’s contact us section.
The affidavit further alleges that on Oct. 2, 2021, Hanson used the handle “@anonYmous” to post several other messages on the website, saying there is no such thing as “gender identity.”
“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,” he allegedly sent.
“Everyone has a right to express their opinion, but repeatedly threatening to kill people, as has been alleged, takes it to a new level,” said FBI Boston special agent Joseph R. Bonavolonta. “Threats to life are most certainly not protected speech and they cause real fear in victims,” he added.
The DOJ investigation also led authorities to find numerous other companies and non-profits believed to be targeted by Hanson with related threats, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Land O' Lakes, Hasbro Inc., IGN Entertainment, the president of the University of North Texas, two professors at Loyola Marymount University, and a New York City rabbi.
Rachael S. Rollins, a U.S. attorney, said on Friday she believes Hanson sent numerous anonymous messages to “evoke fear and division” among the community.
