Approximately 30 Planet Fitness locations have received bomb threats after a customer was banned after raising concerns about a transgender gym-goer shaving in the women’s locker room, according to an investigation. .
Police have received reports of such bomb hoaxes at at least 28 gyms in 11 states from Connecticut to Alaska. According to Media Matters.
Although no bomb was found, the threat forced the evacuation of dozens of businesses.
The first Planet Fitness store known to have been targeted was in Fairbanks, Alaska, where Patricia Silva, 67, was accused of taking photos of people shaving in the women’s locker room. He was suspended from his job.
Silva also shared her fear in a video she posted on March 13, saying she felt unsafe after seeing a transgender person “with a penis” near a girl who “might be 12 years old.” , said it had raised the alarm. . . She was in a towel and I was a little surprised to see a guy shaving her in her locker room.
The gym franchise later announced that its policy allows members to use facilities “most consistent with their truthfully self-declared gender identity,” and that Silva violated the policy by taking private photos in the locker room. As a result, she was suspended from school.
Just two days later, multiple businesses received emails that a bomb had been placed inside Planet Fitness. KTVF reported.
The email stated an intention to blow up the building, but police found nothing and quickly determined the threat was “false.”
As outrage spread online, dozens more Planet Fitness stores were also targeted with fake threats.
According to Media Matters, the deaths include at least four in Rhode Island, four in Mississippi, six in Michigan, three in Alabama, three in Florida, one in Virginia and Maryland. one in Kansas, and one in Kansas.
Three gyms in Connecticut, in Norwich, East Haven and Hamden, also received bomb threats. The Hartford Courant reported.
Gym users said they were frustrated by the unnecessary evacuation.
“I think it’s stupid.” Noah Branch He told Action News in Jacksonville, Florida.
“If you have an opinion about it, you shouldn’t come out and threaten other people’s lives,” he said, speaking to underage gym-goers whose parents have expressed concerns about returning to the gym. I pointed out what I did.
But Branch said he still plans to participate in the so-called “judgment-free zone,” which he described as a “great place” to exercise.
“It doesn’t get in our way,” he said of himself and his girlfriend.
