SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – San Francisco's state senator is safe and speaking out after bomb-sniffing dogs searched his home following a written death threat.
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Staffers for Scott Wiener, a Democrat who has served in the California State Senate since 2016, as well as various news organizations and law enforcement, received an email on Sunday afternoon that said "he will die today" in the subject line. The profane message, which Catie Stewart – Wiener's communications director – shared with KCBS Radio, said "we placed bombs in his office and his house."
"You bastards all deserve to die," the message read.
Wiener, who is openly gay, tweeted on Monday that he has received "lots" of death threats over the years, mostly stemming from his office's work for Californians with HIV and LGBTQ residents.
The San Francisco Police Department and California Highway Patrol searched Wiener's home and office, turning up no bombs. Police told the San Francisco Chronicle that the threat is under "an open and active investigation."
Officials with the department didn’t respond to KCBS Radio's emailed request for comment.
The threat occurred during Pride Month, just one day after a group of alleged Proud Boys hurled homohpobic and transphobic slurs during a Drag Queen Story Hour at an Alameda County public library and 31 white nationalists were arrested in northern Idaho for allegedly planning to riot at a Pride event.
All three incidents took place amid a wider backdrop of Republican lawmakers and conservative media figures targeting these events.
Legislators in Florida and Texas have announced plans to ban minors from attending events with drag performers. Libs of TikTok, a highly influential right-wing Twitter account with 1.2 million followers, tweeted a lengthy thread of people performing in drag across the country days before the legislative pushes. The thread included Saturday’s event in San Lorenzo that was subject to homophobic and transphobic abuse, which the Alameda County Sheriff's Office is investigating to see if a possible hate crime occurred.
The threat to Wiener's office specifically mentioned "drag queen events involving minors," while echoing the charges from Republican lawmakers, conservative media pundits and some public figures that Wiener and Democratic opponents of Florida's education bill and other similar measures support the "grooming" of children.
"The current political environment is completely toxic," Wiener told the Chronicle, claiming that he received a noticeable increase in death threats before Sunday's bomb scare. "National (Republican) political leaders are riling up people deliberately."
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