Utah bookstore hit with bomb threat before drag queen story hour

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A Utah bookstore was forced to cancel an event featuring story-telling from a drag queen and evacuate its premises, following a bomb-threat.

Officers from the Salt Lake City Police Department responded to the incident at the King’s English Bookstore on Sunday morning.

Along with the force’s K-9 team, officers evacuated the building, but later determined that there was no threat to the community.

In a statement the SLCPD said an investigation into who made the threat and why was “ongoing”.

The event, promoted on the King’s English Bookstore’s social media, had been set to feature an appearance from drag-performer Tara Lipsyncki.

Posting a picture of parked police cars, the venue announced the cancellation and closure of the store on Sunday morning, later adding: “The care and concern we’ve felt over the last 24 hours is overwhelming and beautiful.

“Many of you are asking how best to support us. If you’re able, making a donation to Brain Food Books makes it possible for us to buy more books for kids who deserve them.”

In a separate, lengthy social media post, Lipsyncki said that the incident had been an “act of domestic terrorism” and that it had not been the first threat of violence that she had received at one of her shows.

“I have been the target of a lot of hate. But I will make one thing very clear: I inherited my late mother’s fighting spirit, stubbornness and tenacity, and I will not back down to cowardly bullies,” she wrote.

“In the face of hate and threats you have two options, to fight back or to back down. I will always fight and stand my ground when I am able to do so.

“The community needs events like story time to provide a safe space and visibility for anyone, especially youth that feels marginalized and unseen.

“It has been my mission to provide those spaces and it will continue to be my mission to provide those spaces.”

Lypsyncki thanked the SLCPD as well as the city’s mayor for speaking out publicly against threats to the LGBTQ+ community.