BOSTON: Straight Pride Parade Organizers Call 911 After Getting Letters Filled With Glitter And Bible Verses

Talking Points Memo reports:

The organizers of Boston’s “Straight Pride” march alerted law enforcement about several suspicious envelopes on Monday – only to find out the letters were filled with glitter.

Three members of “Super Happy Fun America,” the group behind the march, received envelopes without return addresses in the mail that were filled a “granular” substance.

Samson Racioppi, Super Happy Fun America’s interim treasurer, told TPM his letter led to a “big scene” after he called 911. Complaining that the ordeal was a “huge inconvenience,” Racioppi said he didn’t find out the envelopes contained glitter until he read about it in the news.

The New York Daily News reports:

The Massachusetts state police bomb squad and the FBI responded to Woburn, Salisbury and Malden, where the suspicious letters showed up with “Happy Pride” signed in rainbow colors, a source close to the probe told NBC10.

One of the verses, according to the station, was Psalms 86:15: “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…”

The letters — which were delivered via the US mail — did not have return addresses, organizer Samson Racioppi of Salisbury told the local CBS affiliate.

CNN reports:



Last week, the group’s public event application was approved, Boston officials said. Organizers still need the approval of police district captains and the licensing board to receive a parade permit and an entertainment license before the parade can take place. It is tentatively scheduled for August 31. Critics have panned the idea as homophobic.

But the group’s president, John Hugo, told CNN the event is “not anti-gay but pro-straight,” adding that a groundswell of support is building around it. More than 350 volunteers have joined the effort and Milo Yiannopoulos is slated as the grand marshal, he said. The permit says 2,000 attendees are expected.