FBI warns of potential threats to Pride Month events
Citing the rising numbers of violent threats primarily across the digital landscape online including emailed bomb and death threats, officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations have issued warnings that foreign terrorist organizations or their supporters are targeting the LGBTQ community during Pride Month.
In a notice released on May 10, the FBI and HSI warn that efforts to commit or inspire violence against LGBTQ celebrations, including Pride celebrations or other LGBTQ-related venues, are compounded by the current heightened threat environment in the U.S.
and other Western countries. The FBI and HSI noted that June 12 marks the eighth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., during which the attacker killed 49 people and wounded 53 others.
After the Pulse shooting, pro-ISIS messaging praised this attack as one of the high-profile attacks in Western countries, and FTO supporters celebrated it.
