Councilman Erik Bottcher’s office, and then his apartment, came under attack after he attended a drag queen story hour at a library. A mob of anti-LGBTQ protesters targeted a gay councilman in New York City at his office and later his apartment building on Monday night, days after he attended a drag queen story hour at a library. Councilman Erik Bottcher told VICE News that a group of anti-LGBTQ protesters accessed the building where his district’s office is located in Manhattan, and were banging on the door, jiggling the handle, and shouting, for around 30 minutes while his staff were inside. On their way out, they vandalized the hallway, writing “Bitcher” on the walls. Hours later, while Bottcher was at a menorah-lighting ceremony at a synagogue, the mob got into his apartment building. “I looked down at my phone on my way out, and I saw these missed calls from my neighbors,” Bottcher said. “I immediately knew that meant they were at my house, in my building.” The group scrawled homophobic slurs on the pavement outside his building saying things like “Bottcher is a pedo child groomer.” Bottcher also shared a video to social media showing the tail end of an altercation between one of his neighbors and the mob. “I hope he will decide to press charges,” Bottcher said. Police arrested two individuals, Erica Sanchez, 44, and D’Anna Morgan, 27, and charged them with trespassing.
via vice: Gay New York Councilman’s Home Targeted by Anti-LGTBQ Mob