California: “‘Very Aggressive’ Proud Boys Members Disrupt Drag Queen Story Hour at San Lorenzo Library, Authorities Say”

Several apparent Proud Boys members disrupted a Drag Queen Story Hour event at the San Lorenzo Library on Saturday afternoon — threatening the event’s organizer with homophobic and transphobic slurs and briefly forcing the performer to flee for safety, according to an Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman.

The men — many wearing shirts emblazoned with assault rifles that are popular with the far-right extremist group — barged into the library at about 1:30 p.m. and repeatedly yelled slurs at the performer, who was reading to preschoolers and kindergarteners during one of the library’s Pride Month events, authorities and organizers of the event said.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office has since opened a hate crimes investigation into the incident, vowing to “take a swift approach against anyone who tries to harm, threaten or do hate speech against that community,” Lt. Ray Kelly, a sheriff’s spokesman, said.

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The reading was halted, and staff members quickly moved the performer into a back area of the library, said Cindy Chadwick, the Alameda County librarian.

“We’ve not seen anything like this,” Chadwick said. “The threat of violence was something I was very worried about. It was loud, it was abusive. It felt like we were being targeted.”

Several apparent Proud Boys members disrupted a Drag Queen Story Hour event at the San Lorenzo Library on Saturday afternoon — threatening the event’s organizer with homophobic and transphobic slurs and briefly forcing the performer to flee for safety, according to an Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman.

The men — many wearing shirts emblazoned with assault rifles that are popular with the far-right extremist group — barged into the library at about 1:30 p.m. and repeatedly yelled slurs at the performer, who was reading to preschoolers and kindergarteners during one of the library’s Pride Month events, authorities and organizers of the event said.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office has since opened a hate crimes investigation into the incident, vowing to “take a swift approach against anyone who tries to harm, threaten or do hate speech against that community,” Lt. Ray Kelly, a sheriff’s spokesman, said.

[Clip]

The reading was halted, and staff members quickly moved the performer into a back area of the library, said Cindy Chadwick, the Alameda County librarian.

“We’ve not seen anything like this,” Chadwick said. “The threat of violence was something I was very worried about. It was loud, it was abusive. It felt like we were being targeted.”