Lancaster Pride cancels Drag Queen Story Hour amid suspicious package report

A Drag Queen Story Hour event at Lancaster Public Library that sparked both protests and an outpouring of support has been canceled after a suspicious package was discovered nearby.

"We regret to inform you that due to unforeseen circumstances, the Lancaster Pride event: Drag Story Hour with Miss Amie in collaboration with the Lancaster Public Library has been canceled," the LGBTQ+ group stated on social media. "The safety and well-being of our community are of utmost importance to us. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding."

Lancaster Pride Director Tiffany Shirley said around 9 a.m. Lancaster City Police conducted a security check of Lancaster Public Library. Around 9:45, police found “a suspicious package and evacuated everybody immediately.”

Lissa Holland, the library's executive director, said the package was delivered to the building on Friday. This morning, around 9 a.m., a Lancaster city police K-9 dog alerted to the package during a security sweep. Police then evacuated the building.

Shirley and about 11 public library staff evacuated to Binns Park across the street, she said. They eventually found shelter at a nearby place of business.

“We just gathered everybody together. Made sure everybody was safe. Made sure Miss Amie was safe.”

Miss Amie is the performance name for Christopher Paolini, the drag artist scheduled to perform Saturday.

Shirley said the library made the decision to cancel the event to make sure nobody was at risk.

“It just breaks my heart that we were trying to make a safe, fun event for our children, and because people disagree and don’t think we should exist, had to ruin it for everybody,” Shirley said. Live updates: Police evacuating areas of Lancaster city following bomb threats Local News Live updates: Police evacuating areas of Lancaster city following bomb threats

Holland said she felt “really sad, very disappointed and angry, that leaders of this county turned this into saving the children from the library and we are having to cancel this event because of safety threats.”

Though the library did not make the decision to cancel Saturday's event, Holland said it was the right call during a brief interview under the overhang outside the Starbucks at 101 N. Queen St. to escape the rain.

“Absolutely. It's safety first, for everybody involved, For our storyteller, for the staff — and most important for the children that were going to be here and the families. I am saddened to the core” that the event had to be canceled, Holland said.

Joshua Schwartz, president of Lancaster Public Library’s board of trustees, standing at Holland's side, said he had mixed emotions.

“I'm proud to be part of an organization that strives to be open to all parts of the community and especially marginalized parts of the community, and serve everyone in Lancaster,” Schwartz said. “I'm incredibly sad that we're unable to fulfill our mission today because of people who decided to politicize this storytime event, and obviously some people got into such an emotional frenzy that we can no longer hold something that is safe and welcoming and inclusive.”

Update at 3:37:

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/bomb-threats-target-lancaster-public-library-pride-leader-media/article_f4abdc24-e948-11ee-94d5-3bf01a184083.html

Parts of downtown Lancaster were evacuated Saturday afternoon amid bomb threats referencing a canceled Drag Queen Story Hour event at Lancaster Public Library.

The threats also specifically mentioned the home addresses of the library’s executive director, the president of Lancaster Pride, which was supposed to host the event, and an LNP | LancasterOnline reporter.

The email was sent at 12:07 p.m. and said the bombs were to go off at 1:30 p.m. As of 3 p.m., no explosives had gone off.

The email read, in part: “Bring the fire department, we placed pipe bombs as well as fuel bombs will likely cause a fire spreading to other buildings. evacuate so no innocents die. You are (expletive) degenerates, pedophiles, child abusers or (expletive) cowards who rather let our children get preyed upon than be called a bigot. (expletive)you degenerates, we will kill you all and purify our land.”

Earlier Saturday, Lancaster Pride canceled the reading hour after a suspicious package was found inside the library.

Amber Strazzo, a city spokeswoman, said a dog “alerted” on the package, meaning that something raised its suspicion.

“There are a number of reasons why the dogs could have alerted on it, but we cannot speculate as we do not have confirmation,” Strazzo said. “We can however confirm that the contents of the package were benign. Subsequently, we received additional written threats via email.”

The event cancellation, bomb threats and evacuations caused havoc downtown and at the pop-culture convention Zenkaikon, which had drawn thousands of people downtown to the Lancaster County Convention Center.

Official reaction

The threats came two weeks after Lancaster County’s two Republican commissioners, Josh Parsons and Ray D’Agostino, first made critical remarks on social media about Drag Queen Story Hour. Their criticism touched off a cultural firestorm, with people across the county and beyond weighing in for and against the event.

D’Agostino and Parsons posted their reactions to the threats on Facebook.

“The threats that led to the cancellation of the event at the Lancaster Public Library this afternoon are deeply distressing and have no place in our community. Whoever is responsible and regardless of their motive for the terroristic threats, must be identified, apprehended, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” D’Agostino wrote.

In his post, Parsons wrote: “It is my hope and expectation that the perpetrators will be quickly caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This is true regardless of whether they actually oppose the Drag Queen Story Hour or they support it and are seeking to create outrage against those who oppose it. The consequences should be the same and extremely serious. Threats of violence have no place in our debates.”

Alice Yoder, the minority Democrat commissioner, said in a text Saturday that while she was disappointed the event was canceled, “I am even more disappointed in the threat of violence that caused the cancellation and the rhetoric that fed those threats. The words feeding the flame of that violence are just as dangerous as the threats themselves. We are talking about our neighbors here.”

She continued, “Lancaster is home to a lot of love and support for our LGBTQ+ community and I know that will always win. I look forward to continuing to support the library, the community, and to many future events to come.”
Lancaster police lift evacuation orders following bomb threats [update]

Bomb threats

Tiffany Shirley, president of Lancaster Pride, was downtown when she learned that her home had been mentioned by its address. Police were searching it in the early afternoon, but she was not home, but instead was somewhere safe.

“I’m disheartened that someone truly wanted to cause harm. It’s disgusting. It’s disgusting,” Shirley said.

Lissa Holland, the library’s executive director, did not immediately provide a comment.

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