Protesters upset over a reading event for children that featured drag artists at a New York Public Library allegedly vandalized the home of a Manhattan councilmember who showed his support for the LGBTQ-friendly event.
NYC Councilmember Erik Bottcher, who represents Chelsea, said two people were arrested after they got inside his apartment building Monday night.
A group of protesters first entered a building on West 30th Street around 3 p.m., according to police, and graffitied the walls of an office. In an incident two hours later that police said was connected, a group was outside the building on West 24th Street where Bottcher lives when two women allegedly entered the residence. Police said the two women, 44-year-old Erica Sanchez and 27-year-old Anna Morgan, were arrested after found inside the building.
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Both women were charged with criminal mischief.
Bottcher shared images of the chalk graffiti written outside his building, which called him a "groomer" and a "child pedophile."
"This is pure hate, unmasked. If they think this is going to intimidate us, they’re mistaken. Our resolve is strengthened," he said in a tweet.
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NYC Mayor Eric Adams condemned the vandalism and praised the lawmaker.
"This is outrageous. Completely outrageous. Erik, you stand up for our city every single day and these cowardly bigots have no place here," Adams said in a tweet. "Thank you to the NYPD for your quick work and sending the message that this hate will not go unchallenged."
The vandalism is the latest attempt from a fringe movement targeting drag events over unsubstantiated allegations of grooming. It comes two days after protesters tried to shut down a public reading event geared toward neurodiverse children at a city library — but were met by a wall of LGBTQ supporters who showed up in support of the drag artists hosting the story hour.
The standoff outside the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library in Chelsea on Saturday was over a children's event billed as "storytime with local drag performers adapted to be more accessible to kids with autism and other disabilities."
The group demonstrating over the weekend brought handmade signs covering a variety of issues; messages protested everything from fascism to grooming to gender identity. Bottcher shared images online of the protesters at the time, some of whom he tried speaking with before entering the children's reading event.
"I want to show you the face of hate, right here in Chelsea," Bottcher said, before showing the counterprotesters who were clad in rainbows.
The New York Public Library said the event went off as planned, and added that it would continue to offer programs supporting diverse voices.
“A group of protesters attempted to disrupt a Drag Story Hour for neurodiverse children. The story hour went on as planned, including readings, coloring activities and a ‘dance party’ at the end," the NYPL said. "This is particularly important at this moment when we are seeing a rise of hate and violence targeting LGBTQ+ communities.”
The rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric raises concerns about escalating acts of violence. It was only last month that a gunman opened fire inside a queer nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five people and wounding 17 others.
