Police investigated bomb threats against Target stores in Utah after being alerted by local media who received emails referencing the store chain’s LGBTQ collections celebrating Pride Month.
Salt Lake City Police Communications Director Brent Weisberg told USA TODAY that officers worked with Target and determined there were no credible threats to the two Target stores in Salt Lake City.
“Officers will continue neighborhood patrols around Target locations in Salt Lake City out of an abundance of caution,” Weisberg said in a statement.
Weisberg declined to provide details about the threats, citing an ongoing investigation.
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“We encourage anyone who sees anything suspicious to call 9-1-1 immediately,” he said.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Target said its stores were open and operating at regular hours.
“Law enforcement has investigated these allegations and determined that our stores are safe,” the company said.
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sergeant. Layton Police’s John Ottesen told CBS affiliate KUTV 2News that bomb threats were made against Target stores in Layton, Salt Lake, Taylorsville and Provo.
He said officers began the investigation after two local news stations received emails alerting them to the threats. The threats mentioned Target’s Pride merchandise.
The threat was three sentences long and came from a “fake email address”, according to Sergeant Ottesen.
Target has been hit with a conservative backlash for the merchandise it carries to promote Pride Month. Target’s website offers hundreds of Pride products, including t-shirts, books, and furniture. Pride month begins in June.
After critics posted videos of people attacking LGBTQ Pride displays and confronting Target store employees, the company held emergency meetings and decided to remove or relocate some Pride products so they were less visible in shops.
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At issue was the misinformation being spread about “tuck friendly” swimwear that allows trans women who have not had gender-affirming surgeries to conceal male genitalia. Some social media accounts falsely claimed that the swimsuits were sold in children’s sizes.
Conservatives have also seized on Target’s partnership with Abprallen, which they say features Satanist designs. Target is selling an Abprallen sweatshirt with a snake that says, “Cure transphobia, not trans people.”
Hundreds of bills targeting LGBTQ people — especially transgender people — have been introduced by Republican lawmakers in state homes across the country, seeking to regulate the bathrooms they can use, the care medical treatment they may receive and the sports teams in which they may play.
Prominent GOP figures like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, have raised controversial issues such as gender transitional care for minors.
LGBTQ groups condemned Target for bowing to political pressure.
“Extremist groups and individuals are working to divide us and ultimately don’t just want rainbow products gone, they want us gone,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in a press release. “For the past decade, the LGBTQ+ community has celebrated Pride with Target – it’s time for Target to stand with us and redouble our commitment to us.”
On Twitter, California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, slammed Target CEO Brian Cornell, accusing him of “selling the LGBTQ+ community to extremists”.