“They talked about various ways they felt homosexuals have plagued society [and how] they would harm our community.”
Police are investigating two letters containing death threats received this week by the Sacramento LGBT Community Center.
Both letters had a “faith-based bent” to them, center director David Heitstuman told the Sacramento Bee.
“They talked about various ways they felt homosexuals have plagued society, then went on to talk about the various ways they would harm our community, including destroying and murdering every queer, lesbian, gay, bisexual [person] in Sacramento.”
The center, opened in 1986, has received hate mail and phone calls in the past. (Rainbow flags have also been stolen from outside the building, located in Sacramento’s Lavender Heights gayborhood.) But Heitstuman says these threats were more specific than past ones.
“It’s an unfortunate reality that this sort of hate exists in our community,” said Heitstuman, “and it’s a travesty that so much of it continues to be directed at the LGBT community and other marginalized populations.”
The Sacramento Police Department is investigating the letters as a possible hate crime.
There has been a rash of attacks on LGBT centers nationwide in the past 18 months, including fires started by arsonists in Phoenix and Dallas. In November 2017, Freedom Oklahoma’s headquarters in Oklahoma City was riddled with gunfire.
