Reports of bomb threats made to several Target stores over three different states have now been classified as a hoax -- and it seems someone was trying to plant a false flag.
Target locations in Utah, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- spanning the greater Cleveland, Salt Lake City and Pittsburgh areas -- reportedly received correspondence Friday threatening to blow up several sites ... and all the emails sent referenced the Pride Month display controversy.
At first, it seemed the threats were coming from folks boycotting Target for supporting Pride Month -- but, Cleveland 19 News published a screenshot of the email in question, and it actually appeared to come from an LGBTQ+ ally angry about Target's decision to back down.
The note -- which was sent by someone named Alsan Akhmedov -- reads in part, "Target is full of cowards who turned their back on the LGBT community and decided to cater to the homophobic right wing redneck bigots who protested and vandalized their store."
It continues, "We won't stand idly by as the far right continues to hunt us down. We are sending you a message, we placed a bomb in the following targets." Four Targets in OH and one in PA were referenced ... the Utah stores were not mentioned in this specific message.
All of those stores -- plus some in Utah, which also received bomb threats -- were evacuated ... but after preliminary investigations, cops are now saying this whole thing is fake.
Some law enforcement agencies have reportedly said the email looks to have originated from overseas, and that there was no credible threat upon inspection at the Targets mentioned. Cops in Utah -- where the stores also appear to have been sent a similar email -- said the same thing ... calling the bomb threats "bogus." In other words, disinformation.
As you know, Target has opted to yank some of its Pride merch amid the ongoing backlash.