White House warns of anti-LGBTQ+ attacks during Pride month
Washington DC - The US on Friday warned of the risk of attacks against LGBTQ+ people ahead of Pride month in June, urging Americans to exercise caution overseas.
The State Department said in a statement it was "aware of the increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence against LGBTQI+ persons and events and advises US citizens overseas to exercise increased caution."
The warning, which did offer specific threat information, came after a similar warning from the FBI.
In a May 10 notice, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security pointed to recent anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in social media postings of the Islamic State group, which called for "followers to conduct attacks on unidentified soft targets."
It also pointed to the arrest in Vienna last year of three alleged Islamic State sympathizers accused of plotting to attack a Pride march with knives and a vehicle.
During Pride month in 2016, the US experienced one of the deadliest mass shootings in its history at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, in which a gunman killed 49 people.
The perpetrator, Omar Mateen, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a 911 emergency call during the attack. He was killed in a shootout when police stormed the building.
Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire