A man in California was arrested and charged with making anti-LGBTQ threats against dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster.
Jeremy Hanson was arrested Tuesday and charged with “interstate communication of threats to commit violence,” according to the Department of Justice.
Last October, Hanson allegedly sent multiple messages to Merriam-Webster through its “Contact Us” page and in the comments section on its pages for the words “girl,” “female” and “woman.”
Under the dictionary’s definition of “female,” someone commented that it was “absolutely sickening” that the company “tells blatant lies and promotes anti-science propaganda,” adding that there was “no such thing as ‘gender identity’” and saying the person who wrote that “should be hunted down and shot.”
Through the Contact Us page, the messages accused them of being “commies” and “part of the Left’s efforts to corrupt,” included an anti-trans slur and said the company’s headquarters should be “shot up and bombed.”
“Hate-filled threats and intimidations have no place in our society,” U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said in the Justice Department’s news release, condemning the “threatening and despicable messages related to the LGBTQ community that were intended to evoke fear and division.”
Investigators found “related threats” to the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, a New York City rabbi and others.
Hanson will appear in federal court again later this month.
Over the past year, Republican lawmakers have repeatedly passed anti-trans legislation across the country.