ALL CLEAR

Anti-Trump Conservative Gathering in D.C. Evacuated After Bomb Threat

Organizers received a message claiming four “pipe bombs” had been placed inside a room at the hotel where the Principles First summit was taking place.

A gathering of anti-Trump conservatives in Washington, D.C. was temporarily evacuated on Sunday after organizers said they received a “credible bomb threat” from an account bearing the name of a former leader of the far-right neofascist group Proud Boys. “We have received a credible bomb threat from an account claiming to be ‘Enrique T.’ ‘To honor the J6 hostages.’” the Principles First summit said in a statement posted to X. Organizers noted that Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader who was pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, showed up at the event two days earlier and confronted a group of police officers who defended the seat of the U.S. Congress that were due to speak. Tarrio strongly denied sending the message and, in a tweet, accused the Principles First summit organizers of “slander”—they initially claimed he was the threat’s author before editing their tweet to clarify the threat came from an account using his name. A copy of the alleged threat, obtained by journalist Jim Acosta, said that four “pipe bombs” had been placed inside a room at the Marriott Hotel in Washington, where the Summit was taking place and said that a number of conservative Trump critics—including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, and anti-Trump Republican activist George Conway—“deserve to die.” The event resumed after organizers, police, and hotel security determined it was safe to do so, Principles First founder Heath Mayo, told attendees.