Residents protesting a drag show in North Carolina shot up two substations, leaving 40,000 homes without power over the weekend.
Duke Energy said the blackouts were caused by gunfire that damaged an electrical substation on Saturday. Bullet holes were found in two substations that caused damage to transformers.
Police say a drag show scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines was canceled after the power went out.
Rumors spread online that the drag show was for children. But, according to the show’s flyers, no one under 18 was allowed inside.
Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said he found no evidence that the drag show was the motive behind the substation vandalism.
However, activists took to Facebook to celebrate the show’s cancellation.
Emily Rainey, a former Army Captain, posted on her Facebook page: “The power is out in Moore County and I know why.”
Rainey posted a drag show flyer on her Facebook page. She called for residents to protest adult entertainment in the downtown area.
“Keep Southern Pines friendly,” the flyer read. “Gather to protest & pray Dec 3rd 5-7PM outside the Sunrise Theater.”
After deputies visited Rainey’s home within hours of her posts, she wrote on Facebook:
“Sorry they wasted their time. I told them that God works in mysterious ways and is responsible for the outage. I used the opportunity to tell them about the immoral drag show and the blasphemies screamed by its supporters.”
Rainey, 32, served in the Army as a psychological operations officer until 2021 when she resigned months after leading a group of 100 protesters to the nation’s Capital to attend the January 6 protests.
Commanders at Fort Bragg initially said that no one in her group broke the law in Washington, DC.
