UPDATED: Scott Freitag, a spokesperson from the Church of LDS says that the Mormon Temple in L.A. that was the site of Prop. 8 protests last week has been closed after an envelope filled with "an unknown white substance" was delivered on Thursday.
The clerk opening the envelope spilled powder on his hands and found a letter, which Freitag said did not contain any threatening writing. He also said that the church had not received any calls or threats before the package arrived and that the clerk shows no sign of illness or injury. A similar package arrived at the Salt Lake City Temple. The L.A. Temple was closed voluntarily and employees evacuated as a safety measure.
Hazmat, the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Los Angeles Police Department arrived on the scene and the FBI is investigating the incident. After testing, the substance was found to be harmless.
While no injuries were reported and the FBI has yet to release the names of any suspects, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, who organized last week's march, was quick to put out a statement:
“Today, the Mormon temple in Los Angeles received an envelope containing white powder, raising the specter of anthrax. While the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center organized a peaceful demonstration against the involvement of the leadership of the Mormon Church in the deceitful Yes on Prop 8 campaign, we decry the use or threat of violence. Just as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community seeks the right to be treated equally under the law, all Americans should have the right to live lives free from fear and violence.â€
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This is oddly reminiscent of some of Scientology's antics to gain popular support and stop protests. It could very well be that the Mormons planted this package themselves. If they're willing to lie to the public to push their agenda, what other ethical boundaries are they willing to bend.
All I can say is I hope the FBI finds who did this.
I hope they find the culprit and it turns out to be a Mormon. I agree it's highly likely.
Ditto what Psy and Bitch Republic said. these are also the games they were playing during the lead up to the vote on 8. Shock and awe tactics to deflect criticism from themselves.
Ha! I came on here to post my suspicion that the LDS church planted this themselves. Guess I'm not the only cynic on Queerty.
Having said that — we will set our cause back even further if the LGBT community is involved at all in stunts like this, or lesser acts such as vandalism.
@Brian: The choice of tactics- white powder- is something a right winger would do. I could see vandalizing property etc, but white powder? That plays too much in an existing narrative of fear. See the gays are like terrorists.
No way the same people harassing Mormons and ganging up on some old lady in Palm Springs so they could stomp on her cross would EVER send out these suspect packages. Uh-uh, couldn't happen. Keep it up, boys, you're doing a great job of accomplishing what some of the true, yet marginalized, "bigots" ever could.
Boutros, go fuck yourself, you bigoted piece of shit.
Yet the subways are full of suspicious packages since the MTA do nothing in NYC! What were we talking about?
@seitan-on-a-stick: We are talking about how in order to now take responsibility for their part in actually taking away rights the Mormon Church must pretend they are being victimized by those forces. It's a common technique of the right. To hear them talk about it, you would think it was their rights taken away last week.
"No way the same people harassing Mormons and ganging up on some old lady in Palm Springs so they could stomp on her cross would EVER send out these suspect packages. Uh-uh, couldn't happen. Keep it up, boys, you're doing a great job of accomplishing what some of the true, yet marginalized, "bigots" ever could."
Who benefits from this action? Tell me? It immediately gets blamed on the gays. Who is more likely to have done this?
I knew this was going to start getting ugly.
Easy one- total plant.
Keep vigilant because the next wave of assaults will come in the form of labeling us as "terrorists". I'm sure the gov't is already monitoring things now and the corporate media would love to paint us in this way as well. It'll sell papers, keep the bigots happy (since it's becoming less popular to outright say inflammatory statements) and will grant local municipalities more funding to crack down on our rights.
@boutros:
Shouldn't you be over on Craigslist looking for dick? Your wife isn't going to be out of the house all day you know.
@ChristopherM:
That's me, the closet fag.
Yes, Boutros. Yes it is indeed you. We finally agree on something.
I hope the rest of the country also sees this as a plant or something drummed up by the Mormons. It's so obvious to me. But then again, voting No on 8 was too.
I agree, don't be surprised if they start labeling gays and lesbians terrorists.
@dairyqueen: I knew this was going to start getting ugly>>
well, it will get uglier faster if We don't look in the mirror.
a little humility mixed with class and reason goes a long way.
look at barack obama!
@Farrah:
I think in all likelihood, this was done by a person or small number of persons with an extreme agenda. They could be sympathizers on either side, but it honestly doesn't matter. It's reprehensible in any case.
If it were actually an established gay or religious group, that would be something to talk about further.
It could be a mormon who did this. There are plenty of members that have left the church for whatever reason and hold some grudge against the church.
or it could be some fanatic radical that hates the church who also happens to be gay.
in either case, it does not matter, aside from the matter that this is serious business and if the person is caught, serious punishments will ensue.
Lets be good decent people and not judge others until the truth comes out. right?
mormons live in an isolated world. now they are made keenly aware of the animosity they have cultivated.
too bad, so sad.
If a Latter-day Saint was responsible for this then I hope that they are caught and punished for fanning the flames of this already heated controversy.At the same time, it would be unwise to generalize about Mormons in the same way that it would be unfair to pin the actions of thoughtless members of the gay population on all gays across the country.
Most of the people making posts on this wall don't know as much about the LDS faith as I do. They are much more open-minded and sensitive to gays than many of you seem to think. They just don't agree with your politics. We need to avoid dogmatism.