• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Man facing jail for threatening to bomb dictionary publisher over gender definitions

Home> News

Published 17:25 17 Sep 2022 GMT+1

Man facing jail for threatening to bomb dictionary publisher over gender definitions

Jeremy Hanson sent numerous threats to the publisher through its website

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

A California man is facing jail time after pleading guilty to bomb threats made to a dictionary publisher over its gender definitions.

"Girl: 1) a female child from birth to adulthood, 2) a person whose gender identity is female." That's the dictionary definition of the word 'girl' according to Merriam-Webster. It's not inaccurate, and there's a similar definition relating to males under the word 'boy'.

Still it was definitions such as these that Jeremy David Hanson, of Rossmoor, California, took issue with, to the point where he sent 'threatening messages' to the publisher 'demonstrating bias against specific gender identities'.

Merriam-Webster defines boy as someone whose 'whose gender identity is male'.
Merriam-Webster

Advert

The 34-year-old pleaded guilty this week to one count of 'interstate communication of threatening communications to commit violence against the employees of Merriam-Webster', as well as another count for the same offense targeting the President of the University of North Texas.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, his threats were made between 2 October and 8 October 2021, when Merriam-Webster received a number of messages through the comments section of its website.

In a post on 2 October, Hanson commented on the page for 'female', writing: “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.”

Investigators linked the comments to Hanson.
Pixabay

Advert

Another message was sent to the website's Contact Us page, saying the headquarters should be 'shot up and bombed' and including transphobic language.

A third comment, also posted via the Contact Us page, read: "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."

After receiving the messages, Merriam-Webster closed its offices in Springfield, Massachusetts and New York City for approximately five days. Authorities identified the poster to be Hanson, and arrested him in April 2022.

Hanson is set to be sentenced in January 2023 and faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 (£216,700).

Advert

Merriam-Webster closed its headquarters following the threats.
EQRoy / Alamy Stock Photo

As well as the threats to Merriam-Webster, Hanson also admitted to sending threats to Walt Disney Co., the Governor of California and the Mayor of New York City, a New York rabbi and professors at Loyola Marymount University.

The 34-year-old said he frequently chose the people he would target because of their gender, gender identity and/or sexual orientation.

Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, encouraged other people who may be a victim or witness to threats like Hanson's to report them to the FBI so the agency 'can hold the perpetrators behind these crimes accountable for their actions'.

Advert

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected] 

Featured Image Credit: Google Maps/Merriam Webster

Topics: US News, Crime, LGBTQ

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

6 hours ago
7 hours ago
  • 6 hours ago

    Surprising reason man has been fined $100 repeatedly for giving out free water during heatwave

    David Martin is at war with his Homeowners Association over cold water

    News
  • 7 hours ago

    Boy, 7, with autism died weeks before he was reported missing as police give disturbing update

    Hershall Creachbaum was in the custody of his mom when he disappeared, with his body found the same day a kidnapping report was filed

    News
  • 7 hours ago

    Suki Waterhouse hospitalized after 'wearing tight pants that caused a hernia'

    Suki posted a snap from her hospital bed, with fans pointing out one 'diabolical' detail in the pic

    Celebrity
  • 7 hours ago

    Woman who murdered and lived with her dead parents for 4 years reveals why she did it in harrowing letter

    Virginia McCullough was sentenced to 36 years behind bars for the brutal murder of her parents

    Film & TV
  • Man who murdered fellow moviegoer in row 'over reserved seats' sentenced to 20 years in jail
  • Bryan Kohberger speaks for first time in court admitting to how he brutally murdered four Idaho students
  • People outraged after seeing video of judge sentencing man to 558 days in jail for cursing him out
  • Man who decapitated dad and showed severed head online receives sentence after explaining why he did it