Suspicious packages sent to Boston Straight Pride Parade organizers' homes, defiant group to go ahead with event as planned
The last week of June saw Super Happy Fun America (SHFA), the group that proposed the controversial 'Straight Pride' Parade in Boston, get their public event application approved by the city, and it is news that has not gone down well with some.
The group told MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) that on Monday, July 1, three members of its leadership team: President John Hugo, Vice President Mark Sahady, and Grassroots Organizer Samson Racioppi, each found suspicious packages mailed to their home addresses.
Racioppi was reportedly the first to find the package, which had no return address, and immediately alerted police because of its strange appearance. When he called the other organizers and asked to check them their mail, both Hugo and Sahady said they had received similar suspicious packages as well.
A hazmat team was called to Racioppi's residence, with his street shut down and his neighbors asked to leave their homes as the packages were investigated. Ultimately, they proved to be harmless. Authorities said the mail contained no explosive devices or dangerous substances, and that they were filled with glitter. They also found what the SHFA described as "vague ominous letters".
The FBI said the packages did not pose a threat to the public, and that they and the Massachusetts state police are investigating the incident. While authorities did not comment on who the intended targets were or the origins of the mail, the group insisted that they were the targets because of their plans to hold the Straight Pride Parade and that the "intended message was clear".
"These latest threats against Super Happy Fun America are obviously being made in response to our planned Straight Pride Parade to be held in Boston on August 31," their release read. "This serves as further proof of our sincerely held belief that Straight people are an oppressed majority."
SHFA said the act was the work of "domestic terrorists" and "extremely grumpy bigots" Antifa and described the far-left group as "anti-fun" and a "notoriously heterophobic SHFA-designated hate-group".
"Anti-fun and other heterophobes are dead set on suppressing the ability of straights to freely express themselves as a legitimate sexual orientation and proud members of the LGBTS (S is for Straight) community," they said.
They said the parade would go ahead as planned, writing, "The cowardly threats against our parade organizers and their families will not deter us from advocating for Straight acceptance, nor will it dissuade us from continuing forward with our Straight Pride Parade in Boston on August 31, 2019."
The parade is currently scheduled for August 31, but that date is tentative. This is because even though the group's public event application has been approved, they still need the go-ahead of police district captains and the licensing board to receive a parade permit and an entertainment license before the event can go ahead.
If it does go ahead as planned, it will see Milo Yiannopoulos as the "host and grand mascot" and Barbara from Harlem, the author of 'Escaping the Racism of Low Expectations' give a speech," according to the group's blog.