Man Pleads Guilty To Threatening Merriam-Webster Over ‘Female’ Definition

A man enraged over dictionary definitions of “female,” “girl” and “woman” has pleaded guilty to threatening anti-LGBTQ violence against Merriam-Webster editors.

Jeremy David Hanson, 34, of Rossmoor, California, faces up to five years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to one count of interstate threatening communications to commit violence against employees at the Massachusetts-based company, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts said. He also pleaded guilty to another count of the same offense, filed in the Eastern District of Texas, for targeting the University of North Texas president.

Hanson sent messages and comments “demonstrating bias against specific gender identities” on dictionary pages for the definitions of “girl” and “woman” in October 2021, prosecutors said. He also commented on Merriam-Webster’s online definition for “female,” claiming there was no such thing as gender identity and saying the person who wrote the definition should be “hunted down and shot.”

Hanson sent further threats to Merriam-Webster’s contact page using anti-trans slurs and calling for someone to “shoot up” and bomb its offices.

The threats caused the publishing company to shut down offices in Springfield, Massachusetts, and New York City for roughly five business days, officials said.

Hanson is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 5.

“Every member of our community has a right to live and exist authentically as themselves without fear,” Rachael S. Rollins, U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, said in a statement.