Maple Grove Middle School Police Investigations – Classes have been canceled for Thursday at Maple Grove Middle School in Maple Grove, Minnesota after a bomb threat was received earlier today. According to the Maple Grove Police Department, law enforcement agencies have been dispatched to Maple Grove Middle School after receiving a report of a bomb threat. According to reports, students were first evacuated from the school building on 7000 Hemlock Ln N, Maple Grove, MN to another structure as officers investigated the scene.
MGPD is currently investigating a bomb threat at Maple Grove Middle School. All students are safe. No known risks at this time as we assess the threat. Further info will be sent when available.
— Maple Grove PD (@MapleGrovePD1) June 1, 2023
According to an email to parents, classes were reportedly canceled for today as law enforcement agencies continue to investigate the credibility of the threat received.
ALSO READ: Due to the Pride controversy, bomb threats were made against Target stores in Utah, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Police are investigating explosive threats made against Target stores in three states after local media outlets received emails referencing the retailer’s decision to remove or relocate Pride Month LGBTQ collections. “Target is full of cowards who turned their backs on the LGBT community and decided to cater to the homophobic, right-wing, redneck bigots who protested and vandalized their store,” the email threat stated, according to Cleveland 19 News.
Brent Weisberg, director of communications for the Salt Lake City Police Department, told USA TODAY that officers collaborated with Target and determined there was no credible threat to the two Salt Lake City Target stores. “Officers will continue neighborhood patrols around the Salt Lake City Target locations out of an abundance of caution,” Weisberg said in a statement.
Weisberg refused to elaborate on the threats, citing an ongoing investigation. Layton Police Sergeant John Ottesen told KUTV 2News that explosive threats were made against Target locations in Layton, Salt Lake City, Taylorsville, and Provo. According to him, the investigation was initiated after two local news stations received emails informing them of the threats. The threats referenced Target’s Pride products.
According to Ottesen, the threat was three sentences lengthy and originated from a “fake email address.” Target has received conservative backlash for the Pride Month merchandise it carries. The website of Target offers hundreds of Pride products, including T-shirts, novels, and furniture. Pride Month commences in June. After critics posted videos of people assaulting LGBTQ Pride displays and confronting Target employees, the company held emergency meetings and decided to remove or relocate some Pride merchandise to make it less visible in stores.
At issue was the dissemination of false information about “tuck-friendly” swimsuits, which enable trans women who have not undergone gender-affirming surgery to conceal male genitalia. Some social media accounts falsely stated that children’s sizes were available for the swimsuits. Conservatives have also seized upon Target’s partnership with Abprallen, which, according to them, incorporates Satanic designs. Target carries a sweatshirt with the Abprallen logo and the phrase “Cure transphobia, not trans people.”
Republican lawmakers in statehouses across the country have introduced hundreds of bills targeting LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people, seeking to regulate which bathrooms they can use, what medical care they can receive, and which sports teams they can participate for. Prominent figures in the Republican Party, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, have raised divisive issues such as care for juveniles undergoing gender transition.
LGBTQ organizations criticized Target for caving into political pressure. President of the Human Rights Campaign Kelley Robinson said in a statement, “Extremist groups and individuals work to divide us and ultimately want us to disappear, not just rainbow products.” “Over the past decade, the LGBTQ+ community has celebrated Pride with Target; now is the time for Target to stand with us and increase their commitment to us.” On Twitter, Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom accused Target CEO Brian Cornell of “selling out the LGBTQ+ community to extremists.”
News from SNBC13.com
