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The USA warns of possible attacks worldwide during Pride Month

US officials have warned that foreign terrorist organizations could try to target LGBT events around the world during Pride Month in June.

Authorities warned U.S. citizens abroad to “exercise increased caution.”

“You must remain vigilant in places frequented by tourists, including Pride celebrations,” the State Department said in a warning.

The announcement came on Friday, a week after a similar warning from US law enforcement authorities.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said: “Foreign terrorist organizations or supporters may seek to exploit increased gatherings associated with the upcoming Pride Month in June 2024.”

Although the warnings did not mention specific gatherings or locations, law enforcement determined that Islamic State (IS) group messages distributed in English in February 2023 contained anti-LGBTQI+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and intersex) rhetoric. included ) events and venues.

During Pride Month in June 2016, a man inspired by ISIS ideology shot and killed 49 people and injured 53 others at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

The FBI and DHS alert also noted that three ISIS sympathizers were arrested for attempting to attack a Pride parade in Vienna, Austria, in 2023.

The Counter Extremism Project, a New York-based nonprofit group, found that anti-LGBTQ ideas were embraced by both Islamists and right-wing extremists.

“It is no surprise that neo-Nazis and jihadists often express mutual admiration for their shared anti-gay visions,” Mark D. Wallace, executive director of the project, said in a statement.

Protests and threats from domestic U.S. groups against LGBTQ communities have also increased in recent years, according to a number of experts and research organizations.

According to a report by the Anti-Defamation League and Glaad, a group formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, there were at least 145 incidents of anti-LGBTQ violence, harassment and vandalism during Pride Month in 2023.