A New York City council member had his apartment building covered in graffiti after attending a drag Queen Story Time event for children at a local library.
Erik Böttcher was confronted by protesters outside the event in Manhattan on Saturday, and on Monday he said they attacked his home – an action condemned by the mayor as “utterly outrageous”.
Bottcher shared photos of the graffiti on Twitter and said: “Tonight the Drag Story Hour protesters came to my apartment building and gained entry. My manager called the police and two of them were arrested for trespassing.’
Written in chalk on the sidewalk was ‘Eric Bottcher is a Pedo Children’s Hairdresser’.
New York City Councilman Erik Bottcher (seated on the floor) slammed ugly protests ahead of a drag queen story hour in Manhattan on Saturday. On Monday, protesters showed up at his apartment building and broke into it, with two arrested for trespassing
The sidewalk outside his home was littered with insults, calling Bottcher a “groomer.”
The attack is just the latest in a string of violent incidents involving drag queen reading events critics say are unsuitable for children.
Bottcher, 42, whose borough includes the neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen, said he refused to be intimidated.
“This is pure hatred, exposed,” he said.
“If you think that will intimidate us, you are wrong. Our resolve is strengthened.’
New York Mayor Eric Adams said it was shocking.
‘That’s rude. Completely outrageous,” he tweeted.
“Erik, you stand up for our city every day, and these cowardly zealots have no business here.
Bottcher was branded a “kid robber” for organizing the drag queen reading event
“Thank you to the NYPD for their quick work and sending the message that this hatred will not go unchallenged.”
Ugly scenes unfolded before the drag queen’s reading session for neurodiverse children on Saturday – a week after a man was arrested for assaulting an NYPD police officer before a similar event.
Protesters threw profanity and slurs outside the event at the Andrew Heiskell Library in the Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday, according to a video shared by Bottcher, who was there to support the event.
“Today I witnessed pure hatred and bigotry before the Drag Queen Story Hour in a Chelsea public library,” Bottcher tweeted.
“Inside, I witnessed a loving and peaceful reading of children’s books for children.”
In recent months, similar events across the country have prompted increasingly violent protests from groups claiming they intend to sexually “groom” young children.
The New York Public Library billed Saturday’s event as “storytime featuring local drag performers adapted to be more accessible to children with autism and other disabilities.”
Protesters hurled profanity and anti-gay slurs ahead of a drag queen story hour at the Andrew Heiskell Library in the Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday
The branch library hosting the event is dedicated to providing audiobooks and Braille reading material to people who are blind or otherwise physically unable to read standard script.
There were no reports of injuries or property damage at the protest, and no arrests were made by NYPD officers who were at the scene for security reasons.
The NYPL told in a statement: “A group of protesters attempted to disrupt a drag story hour for neurodiverse children. Storytelling continued as planned, including readings, painting activities and a ‘dance party’ at the end.’
“Our guests enjoy the Drag Story Hour, and the library will continue to offer programs that support a variety of voices,” the statement added.
“This is especially important at this moment as we see an increase in hatred and violence against LGBTQ+ communities.”
The video shared by Bottcher shows a crowd of protesters on the street and sidewalk in front of the library with signs reading “There are only two genders” and “Stop grooming children for sex.”
“I want to show you the face of hate, right here in Chelsea,” Bottcher said in the video.
Protesters opposed to Drag Queen Story Hour are seen outside the event on Saturday
Bottcher (left) filmed the protesters (right) outside the library and said, “Today I witnessed pure hatred and bigotry ahead of Drag Queen Story Hour.”
The protesters hurled obscenities at Bottcher as well as at Graf protesters who stood outside the library with their arms crossed.
“What are you, a pedophile… get out of here,” one protester is heard sneering at the council member.
The tense confrontation comes just a week after a man was arrested and charged in an altercation with a police officer during similar protests at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in midtown Manhattan.
Capatano was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, attempted assault and obstruction of government administration, police said
Catapano was seen protesting with police officers and the group protesting the drag queen event, although he did not appear to be at the library specifically for the event
Chase Catapano, 28, was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, attempted assault and obstruction of government administration.
Catapano was seen protesting with police officers and the group protesting the drag queen event, although it appears he wasn’t in the library specifically for the event and got sucked into the heated drama.
He appears to be homeless and his father told the Daily News he often uses the library’s computers and was likely upset about the disorder due to a mental illness.
Unbeknownst to Catapano, among the crowd of protesters were several officers sent to monitor the demonstration who were stationed inconspicuously among the crowd.