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Somerville library shut after domestic terrorist called in bomb threat shortly before the start of a drag-queen story hour
By adamg on Sat, 10/05/2024 - 6:19pm
Somebody called in a bomb threat to the Somerville central library on Highland Avenue shortly before 2 p.m - the scheduled start of a drag-queen story hour, which was then cancelled as police combed the building for a bomb that didn't exist.
In addition to Somerville officers, the Cambridge bomb squad responded - and then left shortly after 3 p.m. after no bomb was found. The Somerville Fire Department was called in as a precaution and the building was cleared.
Outside, chanting right-wingers, one carrying a large blue-stripe flag, were significantly outnumbered by story-hour supporters.
Somerville City Council President Ben Ewen-Campen wrote tonight:
I am beyond outraged that a Somerville drag story time today had to be cancelled because of a bomb threat called into the public library. Bigoted right-wing cowards are stooping to new lows every day but we’ll never let them steal our joy.
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Additional reports
https://www.reddit.com/r/Somerville/comments/1fwwwum/whats_going_on_at_c...
https://www.reddit.com/r/Somerville/comments/1fwy0wj/somerville_library_...
Makes sense they oppose
Makes sense they oppose reading.
I spoke to a couple of the
I spoke to a couple of the women, and told them, "How do you think we can groom anyone when we're still trying to get them to read?" Did not stick around to hear their response.
Honestly, I swear these people think about see more than anyone besides a 15-year-old-boy--definitely more than ANY LGBT+ I know!
What a sad chapter. That
What a sad chapter. As an aside- That looks like a “thin blue line” flag. In all my years I’da thunk that the police would be the very last group to deface the flag of our republic in the name of fund-raising and partisanship. I know the manufacturers and profiteers use some slippery leagalese to argue it’s not a proper defacement, but for the love of the country let’s keep the flag above the fray. (I realize the police weren’t the protesters in the link here. I respect the role of the police in a safe, well functioning society. This isn't an argument for, or against the idea behind the tbl flag, rather for the principles of flag and country. There must be another symbol. The reason tbl is so potent is because it is the flag of the republic in altered form. I don’t know how we crossed the line to take the flag out of the high realm of virtue of “one nation indivisible” and brought into a particular use, as virtuous and important as that use is in advocating for the brave men and women in law enforcement is.
P.s., the widespread practice of politicians using flag-spreaders and safety pins to make flags look neat for the sake of their vanity is a violation of US Flag Code. (Thanks Apollo Program….NOT!)
The Flag Code
is not the problem. The creeping fascism fueled by russian "dark money" in our politics, very much -is- the problem. The flag painting is not the problem.
Both are.
People on all sides are against both.
Not new
You may not have noticed it, but the appropriation of patriotic and historic symbols by right-wing cops is widespread and not new. Unfortunately.
The Flag Code: part 2
The Flag Code is not a law. The Flag Code establishes advisory rules about the display and treatment of United States flags.
The Flag Protection Acts of 1968 and 1989 both sought to criminalize defacing the flag of the United States of America but both were struck down by the Supreme Court as violations of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Currently you can do anything you want with a US flag including using its iconography in commercial products.
Violating the Flag Code of the United States results in no criminal ramifications what so ever.
Chance "thin blue line" guy
has child porn in his house: 100%
Some men and women too with ideologies and or religions …
… to back up their obsessions, believe it’s their calling to dictate what women wear and what some other men wear.
It’s a story that is as old as time.
I can't find what the official name of the event is ...
...but I'd be surprised if "Drag Queen" is part of it. Either way, something like "Dress Up Story Time" might mean more to kids anyway.
They really do call it "Drag
They really do call it "Drag Queen Story Hour"
https://www.somervillepubliclibrary.org/calendar
I saw the calendar but couldn't find the actual listing
Is there a specific date or event page that's searchable or linkable?
No, it was indeed Drag Queen
No, it was indeed Drag Queen Storyreading; the library was completely transparent about that. (Unintentional pun and it stays.)
Is the concept of "drag" important to the kids?
I guess it depends on their age, but I would imagine having a friendly, fun, colorful, welcoming, inclusive, non-threatening adult reading with them is what kids enjoy. I'm all for normalizing non-traditional presentations and identities, but why highlight "drag queen"? How about just "Story Time with [Name Goes Here]" with or without a photo?
Probably easier
I imagine the kids don't really know or care about Drag outside of the person being a fun personality reading a story to them, but it's probably easier for the library to make it clear that it is indeed someone in drag reading. Then at least parents that are opposed to it could simply not bring their kids, instead of showing up and making a scene about being surprised and offended.
That does of course invite stupid protesters, but I have a feeling they're looking for this stuff anyway and would show up regardless.
The tweet you're using as a
The tweet you're using as a source is from someone with a downward facing red arrow in their name, which is a sign of support for Hamas.
And?
Oh, sorry: Boo on her, I guess.
But how does that affect the videos she posted of something that happened totally unrelated to Gaza?
For the record, she's not my source for the main point of the story, that the library got shut because of a bogus bomb call. You'll note her tweet doesn't even mention that. Somebody (not her) e-mailed me a tip about the bomb threat and I looked into it - which included listening to Somerville FD and Cambridge PD radio traffic from around 2 p.m. (Somerville PD is not available on Broadcastify), and then I checked ex-Twitter to see if anybody had posted about the incident, which is how I found her videos of the little Nazi klatsch being outnumbered.
You'll also note that I missed part of the story, that the protest was organized in part by Super Happy Fun America, two of whose members are now convicted felons for their role on Jan. 6.
One of them, Sue Ianni, formerly of Natick, in fact, showed up in Somerville and screamed. In case you've forgotten, she spent 15 days in federal prison for waltzing around the Capitol.
The other, more Nazi-adjacent Mark Sahady (who in the bad old days used to pretend to be upset about how Nazis kept showing up at his racist, homophobic events), didn't attend, possibly because he's smart enough to keep quiet until Nov. 20, when he's scheduled to be sentenced for entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading and demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
is that what it is?
It's the same insignia used in Nazi concentration camps to designate political prisoners if red and homosexual men if pink. Lesbians got a black triangle according to this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_concentration_camp_badge
Extreme LARPing if you're posting on Twitter and imagining yourself a concentration camp inmate.
At least wait til next year when Trump is president!
Maybe, maybe not
Maybe, maybe not.
Why is it that calling in an
Why is it that calling in an armed "Going Postal" invasion of a corporation can be tracked quite easily resulting in the perpetrators arrest from across the country, but calling in bomb threats to local institutions mostly remain unsolved?