A butterfly center in Texas has partially reopened, more than a month after it said it was temporarily shutting down because of threats from QAnon conspiracy theorists. The National Butterfly Center in the border community of Mission said in a tweet this week that it reopened for members only on Monday and welcomed a rare visitor, the curve-winged metalmark, the Houston Chronicle reports. Earlier this year, the center was targeted by right-wing conspiracy theorists who falsely claimed it was a front for a child sex trafficking ring linked to Mexican drug cartels. An armed group held a protest near the center in January days after its director, Marianna Trevino Wright, said a right-wing congressional candidate from Virginia assaulted her and tried to run over her son.
The center tells MySA that it doesn't have a timeline for reopening to the general public yet. Its front gate is staying locked for now and visitors will have to call the center on arrival to be allowed in. The center is run by the nonprofit North American Butterfly Association. Before the closure, association president Dr. Jeffrey Glassberg told the New York Times that staff members were being harassed and he was afraid that somebody who believed the "dangerous lies" being spread about the center would resort to violence. The center first became a target for conservatives in 2017, when it objected to the Trump administration's plans to build a border wall through the sanctuary. (More butterfly stories.)
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