Watch: Turmoil erupts in Indiana library as Proud Boys storm 'Rainbow Storytime' event
Members of the Proud Boys in the St. Joseph County Public Library. (Screenshots/YouTube.com)
June 30, 2022
Video shows a group of Proud Boys storming a scheduled “Rainbow Storytime” program in a reading room at an Indiana public library and demanding the event be shut down, the South Bend Tribune reports.
One member unfurled a flag reading “Michiana Proud Boys,” and the video shows the men badgering library staff for about 45 minutes, accusing them of pushing "perversion" on children.
“You’re grooming these children's minds,” one of the Proud Boys said. “This is our region and we will not have that in our region.”
South Bend police officers and the library’s security personnel eventually convinced the men to leave.
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The library rescheduled the event, which was planned in partnership with the Tree House Gender Resource Center, and said it will continue to offer such events “to all members of our community.”
“The library will always be a welcoming place for everyone of all viewpoints, so the library will continue to offer programs like this no matter what the response is,” said Marissa Gebhard, who is the communications manager for the library system, adding that the books that were to be read were “carefully selected” in an age-appropriate manner.
The Midwest Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League told local news outlet ABC7 that the Proud Boys are increasingly targeting LGBTQ events.
“They have showed up at Pride marches they’ve showed up at other Pride events,” David Goldenberg said. “They’ve showed up at libraries in other parts of the country. And so this appears to be a tactic or strategy that the proud boys are using to harass, threaten and intimidate members of the LGBTQ community.”
“What I think perhaps is most despicable about this incident at Tutt library is that it involved children, and it speaks to how horrible these individuals are, and how hateful they are, and how nothing is really off-limits for them,” he added.
Watch the video below.
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