The private sanctuary’s gardens are home to more than 200 species of butterfly as well as bobcats, coyotes, peccaries, armadillos and Texas tortoises – Copyright MYANMAR MILITARY INFORMATION TEAM/AFP Handout
The National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, has announced that it’s closing its doors “for the immediate future” after ongoing harassment directed at employees and the center itself.
In a Wednesday Facebook post, the nonprofit noted the “difficult decision” to shutter had been made late Tuesday “in the wake of recent events targeting the center.” It notes there’s not yet a clear reopening date, as it awaits guidance from “the authorities and professionals who are helping us navigate this situation.”
According to the center’s executive director Marianna Treviño-Wright, she suspects the butterfly center attracted the conspiracists’ attention because of a lawsuit it filed against the Trump administration in 2017 to keep Trump’s border wall from being built on the property, reports NPR.org.
The Texas Tribune is reporting that lawsuit is still ongoing in federal court. Additionally, while it is unclear when or if the center will reopen, employees will continue to be paid in the interim, according to Wednesday’s release.
In 2019, Brian Kolfage, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, tweeted out false rumors accusing Treviño-Wright of human trafficking. The sanctuary sued Kolfage and his group for defamation over the tweet, and that kicked off a long wave of threats and harassment that have continued to this day.
Kolfage and others were indicted in 2020 over allegedly redirecting funds from We Build the Wall to personal expenses.
The center’s closure announcement comes on the heels of a previous three-day shutdown Jan. 28 to 30 due to safety concerns. In a public statement, the center cited “credible threats” it was made aware of in relation to We Stand America, a right-wing rally set to be happening that same weekend in McAllen, Texas.