Barrage of Violence Threats
March 30 saw five theaters when Shen Yun is performing receive mass violence threats. It was one of the busiest days in a season that has already seen 37 different theaters receive emailed shooting and bomb threats targeting the performers and their audience members.
The torrent began in Taiwan, where Taichung City’s Chung Shan Hall received 27 live chat bomb threats in under two minutes. The first came in at 3:57:52pm Taiwan time and the last 3:59:42pm. Several messages were often sent on the exact same second timestamp, suggesting that they were perhaps being sent by a bot.
“We have guns and Molotov cocktails prepared. We will enter as spectators on the day of the Shen Yun performance,” the messages all read. “If the Shen Yun performance starts, we will suddenly pull out our guns and shoot at the actors and throw Molotov cocktails towards the stage! Anyone who stops us will be targeted.”
That was just before 4am New York time, and things were just getting started. Later that morning, the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA, where my group was performing, received an emailed bomb threat.
“We have put a lot of explosives in the theater. If you don’t want the explosives to explode, please cancel the Shen Yun performance immediately. If the Shen Yun performance starts, we will detonate the explosives remotely! I swear to Jesus, this is not a prank! ! !”
A very giddy and excitable canine and his police officer came in, searched the building, determined it was safe, and we had our matinee as planned and everyone went home happy.
The bomb threats were sent to at least three other venues that morning. At 8:44am PST (11:44am EST), Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, Canada received the identical threat sent to Taiwan. Half an hour later, at 10:27am MST (9:27am PST and 12:27pm EST), Colorado Springs’ Pikes Peak Center received a similar threat. And finally, 23 minutes after that, at 9:50am PST (12:50pm EST), Bridges Auditorium on the campus of Pomona College in Claremont, CA got one as well.
The police in Claremont actually evacuated the premises and blocked streets on a large part of campus. The dancers warmed up, stretched, and had their lunch in the parking lot before being allowed back in right before the performance when the venue was deemed clear. The show started after a 20-minute delay and was packed. Audience members spoke of not being intimidated.
Principal Dancer Kenji Kobayashi made a short video about the Claremont situation.
And award-winning journalist Eva Fu wrote about how audience members responded.
On a personal side note, I studied at Pomona College and Bridges Auditorium, which we called Big Bridges, is where I graduated, walking across the same stage Shen Yun performed on. Pomona is where I first learned Chinese, which helped me land this gig to begin with, and the community there has been extremely supportive of my work, starting with my trip to Tiananmen and arrest there as a freshman in college. Now they are being threatened with murder…
Kudos to the tremendous work of the local police in Claremont and, really, wherever we have received threats. We always feel respected, safe, and taken care of by you guys – thank you for the work you do to ensure everyone’s safety!