Target stores in at least five states were evacuated over the weekend after receiving bomb threats in what appears to be a continuation of backlash against the retail chain’s Pride Month merchandise, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Stores in Oklahoma, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and Louisiana were targeted with the threats, which came via email, the Post reported, mirroring similar incidents in recent weeks in Ohio, Utah and Pennsylvania. Police searches revealed no evidence of explosives at any of the locations, and Target said the stores are safe and operating at regular hours.
The threats came amid a sweeping anti-LGBTQ campaign targeting corporations and employees promoting inclusive messaging. Target removed some of its Pride merchandise in May, citing repeated threats against workers. The retailer’s move drew criticism from LGBTQ advocates, who said the company succumbed to pressure from anti-LGBTQ conservatives.
The threatening emails were received by local news outlets across the five states on Saturday.
The threats sent to news stations in Oklahoma came packaged as a list of stores that were targeted. The message begins: “We are going to play a game.” The email goes on to claim that bombs were placed at two of the seven Target stores in the list, and closes with “4/19/1995.” That’s the date of the Oklahoma City bombing in which anti-government militants detonated a truck full of explosives outside a federal building, killing and injuring dozens.
News outlets in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York reported receiving similar emails accusing Target of betraying the LGBTQ+ community. The stores threatened in that correspondence are located in South Burlington, Vermont; Plattsburgh, New York; and Keene and West Lebanon, New Hampshire.
“This is part of what went on nationwide,” Shawn Burke, chief of Vermont’s South Burlington Police Department, told reporters, characterizing the threatening emails as a “swatting” incident that he said was likely not the last of its kind.
In Louisiana, police cleared two Target stores in Lafayette without evacuations. An email threatening those locations calls Target “pathetic” and accuses the store of bowing “to the wishes of the far-right extremists who want to exterminate us,” according to local news outlets.
“We will not tolerate intolerance nor indifference,” the email says. “If you are not with us then you are against us.”