Prosecutors say the California man sent 'threatening and despicable' messages targeting the LGBTQ community.
Hanson is also accused of sending threatening messages to the website's"Contact Us" page, including one that said the"headquarters should be shot up and bombed."
"It would be poetic justice to have someone storm your offices and shoot up the place," he wrote, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. "Hate-filled threats and intimidations have no place in our society,” said U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins in Friday's statement, adding that the"threatening and despicable messages related to the LGBTQ community ... were intended to evoke fear and division."
An investigation also found that Hanson sent related threats to others, 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, according to the statement.
Hanson was released on conditions after an initial federal court appearance, prosecutors said. He is set to return to court on April 29. His charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at
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