3 LGBTQ Bars in St. Louis' Grove Threatened by Caller

Yesterday, an unidentified person called three LGBTQ bars in the Grove neighborhood and threatened to shoot them up, multiple bar owners say.

All three bars that received threats are on Manchester Avenue in an area of St. Louis known for its LGBTQ nightlife. The strip is also frequently home to drag shows, which legislators in Jefferson City sought to place new rules on last week.

Around 4 p.m. at Prism, bartender Jordan Cox answered the phone.

"The caller off the bat started talking about how they were the Joker, and they were going to blow up the bar, send bombs and shoot up everybody," Cox says, adding that it sounded like at least two people were on the other line.

Just John owner John Arnold says that his bar received a menacing message on its voicemail, also around 4 p.m.

"[The message] said they were going to come in at 3 o'clock in the morning and shoot the place up," Arnold says. "And that they were tired of us 'faggots.'"

Bizarrely, the voicemail mentioned a Just John employee by name, whom the caller said they liked. "And they told us to make sure he wasn't there," Arnold says.

Prism owner Sean Abernathy says that he and his staff had to make a split-second decision on what to do next, as there were two private events happening at Prism that night, one of them just was beginning just as the call came in.

Abernathy says he informed the police and had extra security quickly brought in. The bar was also shut down to the public, and only those on the lists for the events were admitted.

At Just John, Arnold says the fact that there had been a threat was communicated to staff. Security was extra vigilant, making doubly sure there was no way to get inside without passing security.

Around midnight at Prism, St. Louis police officers showed up with members of law enforcement whom Abernathy says looked like they worked for agencies other than the local police.

“Apparently the federal government is involved at this point as well,” Abernathy says. Someone with law enforcement told Abernathy that, in addition to the menacing phone call, investigators had received some other information about a possible threat to Prism.

"It appears that Prism STL, Just John and Rehab all received calls from an unknown subject threatening to harm employees/patrons and/or threatening to shoot up the establishments," the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department confirmed. There are no updates at this time and "the investigations remain ongoing."

Abernathy says that earlier in the night he'd heard rumors of Just John receiving threats of violence, which the police confirmed when they showed up at his establishment.

Both Abernathy and Arnold say that they heard a third bar in the Grove had received a threatening call as well.

Arnold says that he has co-owned Just John since 2009, and in that time, people have called in to the bar and spouted slurs at him and his staff. "But never have we been threatened to be shot up," he says.

"We've always wanted to have a safe space for people to come and be themselves, and we don't plan on changing that. We might beef up security somewhat, but they're not going to close us down because of a threat like that."

Abernathy points out these threats were made against the backdrop of proposed state laws attacking trans people playing sports and criminalizing minors seeing drag shows.

"We're getting threatened with not only hate crimes, but terroristic threats," he says. "This is all coming at a community that's just trying to exist. We're not trying to hurt anybody. We just want to be able to exist and have a good time."

This story has been updated.

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