With the first in-person Pride celebration since 2019 finally here, San Francisco Police Department officials are calling on the public to keep their eyes open for any suspicious behavior as they enjoy the festivities.
Speaking at a press conference at Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro June 24, SFPD Police Chief William Scott urged the public to be on the alert."If you see something suspicious, please don't sit on that information," he said. "Please say something, please call."While police haven't identified any credible threats to the weekend's events, Scott said, recent threats and incidents around both the country and the Bay Area have put many people on alert.
On June 11, alleged members of the Proud Boys, a white nationalist group, hijacked a drag queen story hour at the San Lorenzo Public Library, while just the day before gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) received a bomb threat via email police judged serious enough that they conducted searches of the senator's house and offices in San Francisco and Sacramento.
Nothing was turned up.In Idaho on the same day as the bomb threat, police officers arrested 31 people who are believed to be affiliated with the white nationalist group Patriot Front, after they were seen gathering near a Pride festival in the northern city of Coeur d'Alene.