Fireworks Company Receives Bomb Threats After Trump Tweets About Them
Independence Day is supposed to be a non-partisan holiday, a time when citizens can put aside their differences and celebrate our nation’s freedoms and the many benefits we have as Americans.
But in what could be seen as a sign of how divided and wild politics in our nation have become, a business in Youngstown, Ohio, was forced to evacuate on Tuesday after receiving multiple bomb threats.
The trigger? It appears a radical anti-Trump figure decided to target the company after the president posted a nonpolitical tweet thanking them for assisting with Thursday’s Fourth of July celebrations.
“The Youngstown Police Department received a 911 call from the Phantom Fireworks headquarters on Belmont Avenue after the office received two calls threatening that ‘there was a bomb in the building,’” Fox News reported.
Officer Brad Ditullio from the Youngstown Bomb Squad said that during the first call, the man making the bomb threat demanded that everyone “needed to get out.” He hung up but then called again.
“[T]hree minutes later another call came in, with the voice saying ‘Tik-tok, tik-tok’ before hanging up again,” Fox News reported.
A bomb-sniffing dog and explosives experts were brought in to search the building, but they luckily found nothing.
“Unfortunately we had a bomb threat called in twice. Police and bomb squad and canine units came to search the entire premises,” Phantom Fireworks CEO Bruce Zoldan confirmed in a statement to WFMJ-TV.
“This was done shortly after President Trump’s tweet thanking Phantom Fireworks and Me personally for donating this year’s fireworks for the Washington D.C. show,” he added.
Sure enough, President Donald Trump posted a thank you note on Tuesday evening acknowledging the involvement of the large fireworks company in preparing for this year’s Independence Day celebration in the nation’s capital.
Thanks to “Phantom Fireworks” and “Fireworks by Grucci” for their generosity in donating the biggest fireworks show Washington D.C. has ever seen. CEO’s Bruce Zoldan and Phil Grucci are helping to make this the greatest 4th of July celebration in our Nations history!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2019
“Thanks to ‘Phantom Fireworks’ and ‘Fireworks by Grucci’ for their generosity in donating the biggest fireworks show Washington D.C. has ever seen,” President Trump tweeted.
“CEO’s Bruce Zoldan and Phil Grucci are helping to make this the greatest 4th of July celebration in our Nations history!” he continued.
The bomb threats prompted Phantom Fireworks to increase its security across the country, no small feat considering the size of the operation.
“Phantom Fireworks has around 79 store locations in 15 states, with four warehouses, about eight regional sales offices and approximately 1,300 temporary locations to service the July Fourth holiday,” Fox News reported.
The company’s vice president, William Weimer, told Fox News that the frightening calls were the “total work of a coward,” and he believed the incident “would be categorized as a terroristic threat,” which seems possible considering the explosive nature of Phantom Fireworks’ products.
It’s truly sad that this is where we are in 2019. A nonpolitical tweet thanking an American company for donating fireworks ahead of Independence Day ought to be the least triggering thing imaginable, but it seems the obsession with Trump has once again caused someone to lose touch with reality.
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