Police have opened a hate crime investigation after members of the far-right militia group, the Proud Boys crashed a Drag Queen Story Hour at a California library Saturday afternoon and threatened and yell slurs at attendees.
According to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, the incident occurred Saturday afternoon at the San Lorenzo Library where children and parents gathered to hear drag queen Panda Dulce read stories.
Dulce told SFGate that they were targeted by “a group of 8-10 Proud Boys” who stormed the room and shouted homophobic and transphobic threats at them. The men “got right in our faces. They jeered. They attempted to escalate to violence.”
Dulce was forced to hide in a back office with a security guard.
The men were described as “extremely aggressive with a threatening violent demeanor causing people to fear for their safety,” police said. One of the men was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with an assault rifle and the words “Kill Your Local Pedophile.”
Dulce wrote on social media that the confrontation “totally freaked out all of the kids.”
The sheriff’s office said an “active hate crime investigation is underway, as is an investigation into the annoying and harassing of children.”
