Bomb threat at weekend Pride event prompts brief evacuation at state fairgrounds

PALMER — Authorities say a possible bomb threat led to an evacuation at the Alaska State Fairgrounds during multiple events including a Pride celebration.

A subsequent search of the area revealed nothing suspicious, organizers said.

The Palmer Police Department, in a release Sunday, said it received “information regarding a possible bomb threat” just before 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The incident occurred during the fifth annual Underground Pride gathering hosted by The Queen’s Guard.

Officers responded to the fairgrounds, where they contacted event security and personnel with the FBI, who were already attending the event as part of community outreach efforts.

Alaska State Fairgrounds personnel made the decision to evacuate the fairgrounds, police said. The law enforcement and security officers at the venue found “no suspicious people or items” and it was reopened, they said.

A police spokesman on Monday said an investigation into the incident continued. He said there were no charges pending and nothing to release when asked if the department had any suspects.

The threat and evacuation left some attendees shaken and prompted a few vendors to leave, according to participants.

There were 300 to 400 attendees and vendors at Underground Pride and a fiber arts festival also underway when the threat came in, according to Vincent Feuilles, president of The Queen’s Guard. The threat was specific and targeted the Pride event, he said.

The event, which eventually drew about 2,000 people on Saturday, had started at noon, Feuilles said. Everyone evacuated calmly out of Raven Hall and several outside areas, he said, and the event resumed by 1:15 p.m.

Feuilles said a fiber festival vendor who’d politely refused a Pride flag earlier in the day later shook Feuilles’ hand and condemned the divisiveness of the threat.

“The intention of fear that was the goal of this attempt, I think it backfired,” he said.

A separate, unsubstantiated bomb threat was reported at a drag story hour at the Seward library last month, according to KBBI public radio. The event was one of a series of events organized by the Seward Pride Alliance to celebrate Pride Month.