On Monday (31 October), a Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Oklahoma donut shop that had recently hosted a drag-themed art event.
Surveillance footage captured a person wearing a red hat, dark trousers and a black hoodie approach the shop’s front before smashing in a glass door and launching a lit Molotov cocktail inside.
The shop, which is called The Donut Hole and situated in Brookside, a Tulsa neighbourhood, also had bible verses and ‘anti-LGBTQ rhetoric’ stuck to its front door.
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Watch the CCTV footage below:
According to Insider, The Donut Hole also had its door and windows broken earlier in October.
Thankfully, the cocktail - which was thrown at around 2.30am - didn’t have a significant effect on the building and the shop only suffered minor damages.
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In an initial Facebook post addressing the incident, a Donut Hole spokesperson said they ‘didn’t have words’ for what had happened.
However, Insider reports that a statement posted later on read: “Our hearts are broken that someone could even be this hateful to our friends who attended the show to do something like this.”
The post also specified that the art event in question was called ‘The Queens Dirty Dozens’ and featured donut sculptures.
UNILAD has approached the Tulsa Fire Department and the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office for comment.
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After the shop first suffered damage in October, a GoFundMe page was set up in a bid to raise money to cover damages.
People are still donating to the page following the Molotov cocktail incident, and funds raised stand at $24,335 at the time of writing.
The GoFundMe states: “Sarah Swain invested into her community this past year by purchasing a local donut shop in the Brookside community of Tulsa. During that time, she already started making a positive impact with her customers and other local community events.
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“Recently, after opening her shop to an event promoting love and equality she was vandalised. Her front doors and windows were smashed and her register and electronic equipment stolen.
“Sarah is a small business owner and this type of disruption can be hard for a small business to recover. She’s going to need community help to rally behind her to get her shop back open.”
Alongside donations, people offered words of support like: “I hope you get back on your feet,” “I support the LGBTQIA community” and “Bigotry and hate has no place. Get your shop back up and I hope you do another drag show soon, never let these people win!”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]
Aisha Nozari