Ongoing threats from conspiracy theorists force National Butterfly Center to close – “Our staff should not suffer a loss of wages due to this unexpected business disruption caused by false and defamatory attacks directed by political operatives”

2 February 2022 (National Butterfly Center) – We regret to announce that the National Butterfly Center will be closed to the public—both members and visitors—for the immediate future. This difficult decision was made Tuesday evening, 1 February 2022, by the board of directors of the North American Butterfly Association, in the wake of recent events targeting the center.

“The safety of our staff and visitors is our primary concern,” states Dr. Jeffrey Glassberg, president and founder of the North American Butterfly Association. “We look forward to reopening, soon, when the authorities and professionals who are helping us navigate this situation give us the green light.”

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause to members and visitors, many of whom plan trips months in advance, to experience this truly exceptional place,” adds Marianna Trevino Wright, executive director of the National Butterfly Center.  

We have to decide whether we’re going to stay open or not because of the stochastic terrorism that all of these political operatives are trying to stir up against us.

National Butterfly Center Director Marianna Treviño-Wright

The center is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Rio Grande Valley. It hosts more than 35,000 unique visitors and over 6,000 school children each year, to share environmental education and conservation efforts related to the critical contributions wild, free-flying butterflies make to healthy ecosystems and a sustainable planet. It is home to the annual Texas Butterfly Festival, a spectacular even during the peak of butterfly season that draws participants from around the world. 

As with the recent, emergency closure that lasted three days, the board has chosen to pay our valued staff, who should not suffer a loss of wages due to this unexpected business disruption caused by false and defamatory attacks directed by political operatives. 

Thank you for your understanding at this dark time, for your support and for sharing our story. 

“Perhaps the butterfly is proof that you can go through a great deal of darkness, yet become something beautiful.“

—Beau Taplin

Announcing National Butterfly Center Closure

Texas butterfly park to close indefinitely as conspiracy theorists intensify attacks – Trump-allied operatives have baselessly accused the National Butterfly Center of being involved with child trafficking

By Josephine Harvey
1 February 2022

(Huffington Post) – A South Texas butterfly sanctuary will close indefinitely due to safety concerns after it was repeatedly targeted by right-wing conspiracy theorists who baselessly accused it of aiding human traffickers.

“[The] Board has decided to close the center, but continue to pay staff, for the immediate future,” National Butterfly Center Director Marianna Treviño-Wright told HuffPost on Tuesday.

“The board’s paramount concern is the safety of staff, members and visitors,” she added. “So for that reason, they have made the decision to close the center for the immediate future while they seek expert advice and formulate a plan that will best serve our interests and public safety moving forward.”

The butterfly conservatory, which pushed back against Trump administration efforts to erect sections of a U.S.-Mexico border wall near its 100-acre nature preserve in Mission, Texas, has been tied up in litigation for years with the former presidential administration and its allies at We Build The Wall, making it an ongoing target for harassment.

The sanctuary closed from Friday to Sunday for the duration of the We Stand America border security rally nearby, headlined by QAnon conspiracy theorists and supporters of former President Donald Trump. Treviño-Wright said she received a warning from an acquaintance involved with Republican politics to be “armed at all times or out of town” during the rally because she and the park would be a target for its attendees.

The park reopened on Monday and Tuesday to members only, but will now close to both members and the rest of the public amid ongoing fears for the safety of its staff and patrons.

On Monday, Treviño-Wright had told HuffPost that the board of the North American Butterfly Association, the National Butterfly Center’s parent organization, would have to “decide whether we’re going to stay open or not because of the stochastic terrorism that all of these political operatives are trying to stir up against us.”

She pointed to real-world violence inspired by these kinds of narratives, such as a Washington, D.C., shooting inspired by the Pizzagate conspiracy theory that Democratic elites were running a child sex-trafficking ring out of a pizzeria, or, closer to home, the 2019 Walmart massacre in El Paso, another Texas border city where We Build the Wall was crowdfunding donations to erect a private barrier on the border. The El Paso gunman’s manifesto echoed Trump’s language about immigration.

A spokesperson for the Mission Police Department confirmed Treviño-Wright had been in touch with police about her concerns. He said police officers would continue to do standard community patrols. “Our response time is fast,” he said.

Following news reports about the butterfly center’s decision to shut down for the weekend, several attendees of the We Stand America event shot and posted footage near the National Butterfly Center’s sign.

A Republican congressional candidate from South Carolina, Lynz Piper-Loomis, posted a video of herself and Women Fighting for America founder Christie Hutcherson near the sign, saying they could see no evidence of a “threat” against the center.

And they seemed to suggest the perceived threat was against the butterflies, not the people at the park.

“We need to protect the butterflies. I agree with that. So Biden, why don’t you build the wall to protect the butterflies?” asked Hutcherson, who attended the Jan. 6, 2021 rally that preceded the Capitol riot and is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “a far-right religious zealot” who participates in border vigilante activities.

“Why are you more concerned about butterflies, than you are [about] little children who are being trafficked?” she added, claiming that human traffickers “use the butterfly land.”

Another clip was posted over the weekend by Ben Bergquam, a correspondent for Real America Voice, a far-right news site that also hosts Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast.

In it, he is holding a child’s shoe with the butterfly center’s sign in the background, claiming the shoe is from “one of the children that was trafficked.” […]

Attendees of the We Stand America rally were also pictured at a section of the border over the weekend, toting flags and singing “Amazing Grace.” At least one man was carrying an assault rifle. According to the event page, it included a “caravan” to the border.

A week prior to the rally, a right-wing congressional candidate from Virginia, Kimberly Lowe, had visited the center, shooting videos for social media and accusing staff of being “OK with children being trafficked and raped.”

The Mission Police Department was called to the premises. The department told HuffPost that its investigation into the matter is ongoing. [more]

Texas Butterfly Park To Close Indefinitely As Conspiracy Theorists Intensify Attacks