A 25-year-old man from Kansas was charged Tuesday with threatening to "commit a mass shooting" at an LGBTQ+ pride event in Nashville, Tennessee.
Many in the LGBTQ+ community have sounded the alarms about an uptick in anti-gay and particularly anti-trans rhetoric and policies across the United States. They say 2023's pride month has been marred by a renewal of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment that has prompted the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to declare a state of emergency for members of the community. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned of intensifying violence toward the LGBTQ+ community linked to recent attacks on "drag-themed events, gender-affirming care, and LGBTQIA+ curricula in schools" in a memo released in May, ABC News reported.
The latest of these threats came from Joshua Hensley of Hoisington, Kansas, who was indicted Tuesday on two counts of transmitting an interstate threat related to an upcoming Pride event in Nashville scheduled for June 24 and 25.
He was arrested in Kansas on Thursday and is set to have a detention hearing on Friday, the U.S. district attorney's office for the Middle District of Tennessee said in a statement Tuesday.
Hensley is accused of making threatening comments to Nashville Pride's Facebook page on April 26, according to the statement. He allegedly threatened to "make shrapnel pressure cooker bombs for this event" as well as "commit a mass shooting."
Newsweek reached out to Hensley's attorney for comment via email, but in the meantime, others are speaking out against his actions.
"We will not tolerate hate-based, threats of violence designed to intimidate Tennesseans," U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis wrote in the statement. "We will not tolerate hate-based, threats of violence designed to intimidate Tennesseans,"
Brady Ruffin, a member of the Nashville Pride Board of Directors, wrote in a statement to Newsweek that the organization is thankful for law enforcement's "proactive efforts and response" and that "no credible threat existed or currently exists to the Nashville Pride Parade & Festival."
"We continue to work directly with a private security company and a number of city, state, and federal entities to advise and implement safety measures around the Nashville Pride Festival and Parade. We look forward to creating a safe and secure space for the LGBTQ+ community to be authentically and vulnerably themselves this weekend at the Nashville Pride Parade and Festival," Ruffin wrote.
According to the statement from Nashville Pride, several steps are being taken to ensure the safety of attendees ahead of the event. The festival's organizers are working with a private security company as well as local, state and federal entities to ensure safety. The festival is fenced in with controlled access, bags are checked at all entrances, no weapons are allowed and security presence will be guaranteed throughout the festival.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
