OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — After her library event in San Lorenzo was disrupted by a far-right group, a San Francisco drag queen is imploring Bay Area leaders to call out extremism and protect LGBTQ community members.
On Thursday, U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell denounced hate speech at the San Lorenzo library. This was the site where on June 11, alleged members of the Proud Boys disrupted a LGBTQ youth story time event organized by Panda Dulce.
Dulce was preparing to read a book to children in the library, when she said a group of men wearing colors identifying them as part of a white supremacy group entered and began shouting transphobic slurs, ignoring demands to leave.
Law enforcement say they are investigating the incident, but do not have an update for the public. Dulce said despite being frightened, once the men were removed from the building, she finished the event by reading a positive LGBTQ-affirming book to children and their parents.
This incident took place on the same day as another threat to a Pride event from a far-right white supremacy group, when 31 members of Patriot Front were arrested in Idaho. A large group of men were caught in Coeur d’Alene in a U-haul near the North Idaho Pride Alliance holding a Pride in the Park event, and were all arrested. Law enforcement officials identified evidence the men planned to riot and incite violence downtown, and said they have received death threats since making the arrests. Authorities say a Texas-based hate group founded after the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia was behind this incident.
And in Baltimore, Maryland, authorities are investigating a possible hate crime after a Pride flag was set fire in a yard, burning several homes and injuring three people.
Dulce said she was terrified when men dressed as members of another white supremacy group, the Proud Boys, entered the San Lorenzo library and shouted at her in front of children. The Proud Boys have been identified with local members in the Bay Area for years.
In a written statement, Dulce described the group as eight to ten “white dudes marched in single file, in Proud Boys black and yellow, cameras blazing.” She said one wore a shirt with an AK-47 and words saying “Kill yr local pedophile.”
Videos taken on witnesses’ smartphones quickly circulated online. Dulce said the men called her "a groomer and a pedophile," and although librarians and parents asked them to leave, they “kept hurling slurs.”
“The kids looked concerned, confused, panicked,” Dulce said. “One child buried their head into their dad’s chest, unsure of what to make of the raised voices and sudden conflict. My heart hammered. I had a complete freeze response.”
She said she was escorted by a security guard to the back of the building while the sheriff’s office was called. The men were asked to leave multiple times and she said witnesses reported the group asked “Where did it go? Is it still in the building? Let’s go find it.”
Police arrived with backup and tried to disperse the group, but Dulce claimed the Proud Boys were not asked to leave the premises. Once outside, she said she saw them circling the building to the window of the community room.
Dulce said she chose to return to read a book about different family styles featuring zoo animals. She told the families “Sometimes, when you’re different, people are afraid of you. They project their fears onto easy scapegoats, but (do) not let them dissuade you from being yourself.” As she spoke, she was “acutely aware” of the windows in the room, as she did not know if the men were armed and “whether or not they would try to get a shot at me.”
A security guard taped construction paper over the windows, and after the reading Dulce's partner arrived to help her remove her makeup and leave without being targeted.
She said she asked deputies whether there would be hate crime charges against the men. For now, Sheriff's Office spokesperson Lt. Ray Kelly said Monday that detectives are reviewing the case using the men’s names and identification.
“We have to be mindful in dealing with cases like this, there’s a line where free speech ends and hate speech and threats of violence cross the line of the First Amendment,” he said, calling it "a delicate balance."
Kelly said his office met with Swalwell on Thursday, alerted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office about the incident and are sharing information with law enforcement agencies around the country, “to be aware of the presence of those groups showing up at these events.”
“There appears to be a trend that any of these Drag Queen Story Time events might have the potential for a situation like this one we’ve dealt with,” Kelly said. He added deputies have increased their presence around the library and do not have any indication there will be “any further confrontation” at the library.
Earlier this week, Senator Scott Wiener said the incident showed "direct results of political attacks on LGBTQ people." In a new statement on Twitter Wednesday, he wrote that "LGBTQ people are at severe risk of violence. Opportunistic political attacks -- including labeling us as threats to children ("groomers" "pedophiles") are direct incitements to violence."
Swalwell called the incident “abhorrent” in a statement Sunday.
“We must reject this hate and extremism wherever it shows itself,” he said. “There is no place for this hate in the East Bay, and we all need to speak up with one voice in saying so.”
These incidents are taking place as states whose legislators are introducing bills seeking to limit transgender rights sue the Biden administration for protection of trans youth, and white supremacy messaging intensifies on social media.
Dulce said “It is no coincidence that this occurred the same weekend of the Patriot Front conspiracy arrests in Idaho, on the anniversary weekend of Pulse (the Orlando nightclub massacre) and on the heels of the GOP advancing 250+ anti-LGBTQ bills.”
“The right is an extremely organized, unified front. What happened at San Lorenzo is merely the most recent link in a chain of premeditated homophobic and transphobic violence.”
Dulce said she wishes the political left will “understand the gravity and immediacy of the situation,” calling for more protections to clarify and extend to the LGBTQ and other vulnerable communities.
“If we truly want terrorism to end, we need to act as a united front,” Dulce said.
“Far-right extremists have always lived among us. They just feel more emboldened now to step out of the darkness. The sooner we acknowledge this sobering fact, the sooner we can appropriately prepare to mitigate similar scenarios.”
Dulce added Thursday, “I think it’s important to show strength as well. I’m not a victim.”
Follow @nhanson_reports
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
