RICHLAND, Wash.- The Emerald of Siam received backlash from the community ahead of the restaurant’s Easter drag brunch including vandalism of the building the morning of the event.
Now, the restaurant’s general manager, Tim Thornton, says the backlash has escalated to threats by mail after the event.
The restaurant received a letter on Monday from a sender who signed as “Josh Shooter” from “AR-15 Die Street.”
“I’m honestly, at this point, not surprised seeing how vile people have been lately,” said Thornton. “It’s sad that it’s not surprising.”
Thornton added that the community was lashing out over the drag brunch, when the restaurant hosts similar events consistently.
“People are acting out against a drag show when literally two hours after this event. we had an all-ages punk rock show and the band dresses up in makeup and dance around and this time they dressed up in drag and nobody had an issue with it,” said Thornton. “All the people wanted to do is hate on the drag queens. They wanted to be homophobic about it.”
The owner of the restaurant has contacted law enforcement for action regarding the letter.
