SALT LAKE CITY, UT - On Sunday, the same day as a scheduled drag queen performance, police responded to a bomb threat at a local Salt Lake City bookstore.
The bomb threat occurred at 9:30am, just hours prior to a scheduled drag show event planned for later featuring known drag queen Tara Lipsynski. The event was scheduled for Lipsynski to read a book to children.
A local Salt Lake City bookstore, The King's English Bookshop, was evacuated with the report of a bomb threat made to the premises.
A K-9 squad was dispatched to the site and everyone was removed from the facility. Shortly following the evacuation, police from the Salt Lake City Police Department notified the general public everything was fine and there was no further danger.
There was no confirmation that the two were linked, but the timing of the bomb threat leaves mainstream media inferring that the threat was made by "far-right activists" upset over children being exposed to sexual performances by men dressed as women.
Lipsinki was notified by the bookstore owner in a personal phone call as to the bomb threat situation. According to the performer, she was already heading out the door for the event when the contact was made.
The performance at the bookstore is part of a storytelling hour that benefits a local food bank. She called the incident “an act of domestic terrorism” and added in an Instagram post that she would "not back down."
Calvin Crosby, co-owner of the bookstore, spoke with the local NBS news affiliate after the threats. “It disappoints me that our fellow merchants and our neighbors who are so loyal and supportive of the store have to go through this,” he said. “The right thing to do is to put books into kids’ hands, to those without regular access and to normalize diversity.”
Salt Lake City Mayor Mendenhall also posted to Twitter her dismay with what transpired to create the bomb threat situation.
The mayor is facing the possibility of being ousted by former mayor, Rocky Anderson, who a year ago made it known that he's looking to reclaim his position.
In his announcement saying he would run again for the position, Anderson cited the current administrations lack of consideration or attention to homelessness as well as law enforcement.
"I get things done," Anderson told reporters at the time. "I’m running for mayor for one reason, and that is we need to turn this city around."
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