By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Before the business was damaged, UpRising Bakery and Cafe had received a number of threats over the scheduled drag show brunch.
A Chicago-area bakery was vandalized over the weekend over a planned drag show brunch.
Photographs shared on Twitter by Marissa Perlman, a reporter for WBBM, Chicago's CBS affiliate, showed extensive damage to the establishment with broken glass and graffiti messages painted on the walls.
\u201cThe Owner of Uprising Cafe and Bakery in Lake In The Hills says she is cancelling their planned drag show today after someone vandalized their business overnight. They\u2019ve been receiving threats and harassment for weeks. She sent us these photos of the damage: @cbschicago\u201d— Marissa Perlman (@Marissa Perlman) 1658581035
"Groomers," "f*gs rape kids," and "Christ is king" were scrawled in black paint along the exterior.
Defiantly addressing Saturday's anti-LGBTQ+ attack, the shop owner in the village of Lake in the Hills, a suburb of northwest Chicago, posted on social media Sunday announcing the shop's immediate reopening.
"The clouds of This storm Are clearing this morning and we will reopen today with limited services and staff," the business said on social media. "Hate has no home here. Love and light live here. We live here. This is our home. this is our town. this is our county. this is our fight. we're not turning our backs or backing down now. Zero tolerance for fuckery today and everyday."
Joseph I. Collins, 24, has been arrested and charged with two felonies: a hate crime, a class 4 felony, and criminal property damage, a class 4 felony.
Lake in the Hills Police received a report of criminal damage to property in progress at around 12:04 a.m. Saturday and that the suspect had run, Lake and McHenry County Scanner reports. Authorities said a police officer saw Collins flee the scene.
Shortly after, Collins was detained.
"The safety and Constitutional rights of everyone are always the Lake in the Hills Police Department's priority," the department said in a statement to the Scanner. "The Police Department is disheartened this happened in our Village, remain steadfast in our commitment to public safety and have zero tolerance to crimes against all members our community."
Collins was released Saturday evening after posting 10 percent of his bond set by a McHenry County judge at $10,000.
Hours after the UpRising Bakery was vandalized, the business canceled the drag show, writing it was doing so "for the safety of the performers, staff, and community."
"At this time we ask everyone: DO NOT COME TO OUR LOCATION AT ALL TODAY. We did not want to back down from Bullies but absolutely cannot in good conscience continue with tomorrows plans. It breaks our hearts. we will update when we can," the owner wrote.
Earlier this month, UpRising Bakery and Cafe's owner reported receiving in-person and online threats after announcing they would be hosting a drag show.
Corinna Sac, owner of UpRising Bakery told local NBC affiliate WMAQ last week that the trouble started when she posted about the drag show brunch on the bakery's Facebook page. The post quickly gained hundreds of comments, many of them negative, hateful, and objecting to the admission of children to the event. The Lake in the Hills Police Department was contacted by concerned residents. The police conducted an investigation, later posting a statement to social media saying they found "no nudity or sexually explicit content" that was planned "to be a part of the scheduled performance."
Sac had been resolved in still having the drag show regardless of the threats.
"Who you love, what you believe in, it doesn't matter," Sac said. "We welcome everyone, we love everyone. And we try to make something for everyone, too.
There have been many targeted attacks against LGBTQ-themed events in recent weeks. The Proud Boys and other right-wing extremist groups, like Patriot Front, disrupted drag-themed events nationwide in June.
