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Christopher Paul Paolini known by the stage name of Miss Amie Vanité had been facing pushback from the Lancaster County commissioners about the children's Drag Queen Story Hour scheduled at the library.
A GoFundMe was launched to help the library after the commissioners threatened to pull public funding.
Miss Amie's no stranger to controversy and has faced protests before, like in 2021 at the YWCA in Hanover, York County, as Evening Sun reported at the time.
This latest event was for "babies, toddlers, everyone" from 1 to 2 p.m. on March 23. The event description reads as follows:
"Stories, Songs, Crafts, Creativity, Dancing and Drag: Join Miss Amie Vanité as she spreads awareness and acceptance by celebrating diversity, inclusiveness, kindness and love through LGBTQ+ literature for young readers."
Hours before the event "Lancaster City Police K-9 and Lancaster County Sheriff Deputy K-9 alerted their handlers to a suspicious package inside the Lancaster Public Library during a preplanned sweep," the police stated in a release. The area was closed and evacuations were ordered until the Pennsylvania State Police bomb squad cleared the scene.
While that was happening "an email of explosive devices planted in the areas of the 100 block of N. Lime and 100 block of N. Queen in Lancaster City as well as outside of our jurisdiction" was received by police who began sweeps and evacuations of those areas. The addresses included the home of the library’s executive director, Lissa Holland, the president of Lancaster Pride, Tiffany Shirley, and LNP journalist Dan Nephin, as WITF reported. Nephin detailed the contents of the email as clear and detailed death threats with a 1:30 p.m. detonation time of multiple bombs.
Communications manager for the Lancaster City Bureau of Police, Stacia Korman told us, “A staff member was expecting a package from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) containing coloring books. The package did contain the items listed by the staff member."
Details about the other alleged packages or who sent the email were not released.
It is unknown if the Drag Queen Story Hour will be rescheduled.
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