Man who vowed to bomb Merriam-Webster over gender-inclusive entries pleads guilty
A man who expressed hatred for the Merriam-Webster dictionary's evolving definitions of gender pronouns and adjectives has pleaded guilty to making threats, prosecutors said.
A man who expressed hatred for the Merriam-Webster dictionary's evolving definitions of gender pronouns and adjectives has pleaded guilty to making threats, prosecutors said this week.
Jeremy David Hanson, 34, of Rossmoor, California, used the Merriam-Webster website's comments and contact functions to send multiple threatening messages roughly one year ago, prosecutors said.
Hanson admitted to making the threats in writing as part of a plea agreement Wednesday, prosecutors said. He told the court he often chose the targets of his messages based on their gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
“Every member of our community has a right to live and exist authentically as themselves without fear,” U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins said in a statement Wednesday. “Hate motivated threats of violence that infringe upon that right are not tolerated in Massachusetts in any capacity.”
Examples of his threats cited by the U.S. Attorney's Office appeared to show escalating anger on Hanson's part. He initially posted a comment Oct. 2, 2021 that decried the dictionary's definition of "female" as "anti-science propaganda."
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