Campbell’s Books Inc. receives bomb threat before Drag Queen Storytime, says Silicon Valley Pride

CAMPBELL, Calif. (KGO) – Tense moments were captured on camera at a South Bay bookstore.

This is where a drag queen story hour was supposed to begin – until there was a bomb threat.

Silicon Valley Pride captured emotional moments on video at Books Inc. in Campbell on Wednesday, showing store owners’ reactions before they had to announce the postponement of the event.

Silicon Valley Pride provided ABC7 with the video, which was originally intended to show behind-the-scenes moments from their annual Drag Queen Storytime.

The event was already taking place for the third time when the bookstore management received a bomb threat via email.

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Silicon Valley Pride, the bookstore and the Campbell Police Department quickly decided not to take any chances.

“We don’t have anything tangible that can tell us, ‘Yes, it’s 100% OK,'” drag queen Tori Tia told the crowd. “So your safety is more important than me reading a story.”

This time the threat turned out to be implausible, but the venue and location had been the target of attacks before.

Two years ago, demonstrators broke into a story hour, booed the moderator and protested outside.

While Silicon Valley Pride said it partners with others for added security, it said it will not let hate stop it from doing its work.

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“We teach children to read and also show them how to accept everyone, regardless of gender identity or gender expression,” says Saldy Suriben, marketing director at Silicon Valley Pride.

Campbell Police confirmed to ABC7 that officers responded to a report of a bomb threat and evacuated Books Inc. and surrounding areas.

The police dogs searched the area and concluded it was safe for everyone to return. And that’s exactly what they did. Later, they continued the story time outside in the courtyard of a shopping center in the Pruneyard.

“The show must go on,” Suriben said. “We were just happy that we weren’t able to cancel the event and still host Drag Queen Story Time.”

Campbell Police told us the details of the threat itself and the incident are still under investigation.

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In a statement, Books Inc said:

“Our Drag Queen Story Hour on Wednesday night was an event filled with laughter, joy and love. We are incredibly grateful and appreciative of the Campbell community and Silicon Valley Pride for allowing us to have a wonderful story hour of singing and sunshine despite a threatening email that we were fortunate to find unbelievable. We will always be committed to creating loving and inclusive spaces that bring the joy of storytelling and literature to people of all backgrounds, and will continue to work to encourage people from marginalized communities who deserve to be represented in the bookstore.”

Silicon Valley Pride said this is just one of many events the company is proud to host leading up to the Silicon Valley Pride Parade and Silicon Valley Pride Festival on August 24-25.