On Thursday, Chester Township police chief Craig T. Young issued an official recommendation that LGBTQ+ organizers cancel a scheduled drag brunch and storytime event set to take place at the Community Church of Chesterland over the weekend.
In response, organizers instead announced plans to move forward with the event regardless of police presence, relying on private, hired security.
“In order to protect all involved, the children attending, and the residents of Chester Township, law enforcement officials have made an official recommendation to the event organizer, and the Community Church of Chesterland to cancel this event,” Young said in a written statement released Thursday morning, citing “a realistic threat that organized protests and counter-protests could result in violence.”
The Community Church of Chesterland, where the reading portion of the event is set to take place, suffered exterior damage earlier this week after detractors bombed the entrance with a Molotov cocktail.
The owners of Chardon restaurant Element 41, where the drag brunch portion of the event will take place, said they also received threats of violence, including notice that members of the far-right, neo-fascist hate group the Proud Boys plan to attend.
With mounting safety concerns after armed neo-Nazis and other white nationalist and white supremacist groups descended on a separate drag story hour in Wadsworth earlier this month, organizers said they asked to meet with Chester Township police ahead of the event.
In a written statement, organizer Mallory McMaster — president of The Fairmount Group, a Chardon-based firm that produces LGBTQ+ and social justice events — said police cited violent social media rhetoric, the possible presence of designated hate groups and the recent mass killing at a private school in Nashville, Tennessee, as potential safety concerns during the meeting, but offered few specifics.
“Most of the meeting was spent talking about money,” McMaster said in a statement co-signed by Community Church of Chesterland leaders and Element 41 owner and head chef Paul Mendolera. “Our organizers were asked how police officials could justify to their trustees such a large expenditure to keep the LGBTQ community safe. We ask, how can you justify denying an expenditure keeping the LGBTQ community safe?”
“We understand these hate groups use financial terrorism as a tactic to force police agencies to take sides in situations like these,” McMaster added. “But choosing the side of the outside hate groups instead of members of this community they are sworn to protect sets a dangerous precedent for future targeted acts like these.”
“The protection of life and property are at the core of everything we do in law enforcement,” Young said. “We strive to use de-escalation as a method for preventing violence, and I was hopeful that our recommendation to cancel these events and de-escalate a tense and unpredictable situation would be met with cooperation and an understanding.”
“The Chester Township Police Department evaluates each event, interaction and investigation, to ensure that we stay within the focus of our mission and core values,” he added. “We owe it to our community members to ensure a safe place to live, work, and visit.”
Young also reminded both event attendees and anti-LGBTQ+ protesters to “act peacefully and legally.”
“Failure to do so will result in legal consequences,” he said.
Meanwhile, organizers urged police and other public officials to shift their approach to public safety when it comes to marginalized communities, imploring police officials to turn their attention away from private events and focus on keeping hate groups away.
“Maybe the police should tell the Proud Boys not to come instead of telling the gays to hide,” McMaster said. 🔥
Ignite Action:
- To make a donation to the Community Church of Chesterland and help fund private security for the event, click here.
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