AUSTIN, Texas — A popular drag brunch was canceled on Sunday after a bomb threat targeted the event.
Austin Police Department (APD) officers were called to The Brewtorium Brewery & Kitchen around 12 p.m. for a reported bomb threat shortly after the start of the Legendary Drag Brunch & Market. According to a post on the brewery's Instagram page, the person who made the threat cited the drag show as the reason.
"We've never had a threat like this before. You know, we've gotten some, you know, rude comments online," Whitney Roberts, the co-founder and CEO of Brewtorium, said.
When officers arrived, they did not find anything suspicious or any evidence of a bomb on the premises. Out of an abundance of caution, Brewtorium chose to close for the remainder of Sunday following the threat.
"For the safety of everyone in the building, we felt our best option was to close for the day," the business wrote on Instagram. "It breaks our hearts that this kind of thing still exists."
Brewtorium said on Tuesday that after a "full day of back and forth with the Austin Police Department and an FBI liaison," it was determined that the business was most likely the victim of a hoax "that has affected institutions in several major cities throughout the U.S. recently, especially during Pride month." Brewtorium said this information would have been helpful to have had on Sunday, but "hindsight's 20/20."
"We & @lasofrendas had to consider the safety of close to 300 people and we could not take the risk to continue the event with as little information as we had to go on," the brewery wrote.
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TK Tunchez, the founder of Las Ofrendas and Frida Friday ATX – a partner of the drag event – also posted an update to Instagram about the cancelation. They said Legendary Drag Brunch has been held at Brewtorium every second Sunday for two years.
"It was definitely scary and definitely disheartening, to say the least," Tunchez said. "It was very, very frightening to think about our community. You know, have a physical threat presented to them."
In its initial Instagram post, Brewtorium listed the Venmo accounts for the three drag performers who were set to participate in Sunday's event. The business also said Frida Friday ATX would distribute any funds donated to the vendors who were scheduled to participate in Sunday's market and Roberts would be accepting any donations "to help us & our staff recover lost income."
Tunchez issued a call for members of the LGTBQ+ community to continue celebrating themselves.
"If you're queer out there, keep showing up and keep celebrating because I'm telling you now, people can't handle it," Tunchez said. "And I'm cheering for you. I'm cheering for us. And I want to keep seeing us being proud and us be out – literally out."
In its post Tuesday, Brewtorium echoed Tunchez' sentiments.
"What we ask, at this point, is that you continue to support Austin drag, queer events and local businesses. Summer is an extremely challenging time of year for most local Austin businesses. We know it’s hot, but we’d love to have you in for some cool A/C, beers, food and cheers with the people you love this summer," Brewtorium said. "This incident will not stop us from continuing to host Legendary Drag Brunch & Frida Friday Market produced by Las Ofrendas and other LGBTQIA events in the future. The Brewtorium always has been and will forever be a safe place for queer people. We welcome all good & kind people through our doors. Love will always win!"
APD said an investigation is underway.