Pride Month Target Threats

Pride Month Target Threats

Skyla Haynes, Staff Writer

In June, a video surfaced on Twitter of Ethan Schmidt threatening to “hunt” down LGBT supporters in Arizona. “we’re going to be going on a hunting expedition pretty soon, you know, hunting the LGBT supporters across Arizona and Phoenix,” he adds in the video. As anti-LGBT activist, Schmidt is well known for harassing businesses, such as PetSmart, by demanding that they take down their pride flag. He also told supporters of the LGBT community in the video to “keep an eye out… because if you support the LGBT agenda, you are not safe.” 9Schmidt also said he was going to be “exposing” Target, and that his friend, Kyle, would be helping him make “massive” scenes. An anonymous senior stated, “After these threats came out I was honestly afraid. I live in a not so LGBTQ friendly neighborhood, so it definitely seemed like a hate crime could happen. For the entirety of the summer I did not go to Target which sucked because I love their Pride Month collection.” 

Despite his video and threats going viral, law enforcement has yet to do anything. Schmidt was later arrested on June 11, 2022 for another case and failing to comply in court. The LGBT community has been persecuted for decades and their mistreatment must be recognized as a severe social issue.