The sanctuary, located in McAllen, Texas, cited mounting threats linked to a pro-Trump border wall event and conspiracy theories from We Build The Wall founder Brian Kolfage.
The border wall event is hosted by a slew of conservative organizations.
In its notice, the butterfly center said a "former state official" told executive director Marianna Wright that the center "would likely be a stop" for the caravan and that Wright "and the center are targets."
Conspiracy theories lobbed against the center are not new.
In November 2019, as Kolfage and We Build the Wall fundraised for the endeavor, they sought to construct the wall near the center's 100-acre butterfly reserve.
Local officials, the center, and a @propublica and @TexasTribune investigation all raised concerns about the ecological soundness of the project, especially in proximity to nature reserves and the Rio Grande.
Kolfage turned his attention to the center, which stood near his fantasy wall's path, and hurled a series of conspiratorial accusations at Wright, as well as other Rio Grande business owners and advocates who opposed the wall.
Kolfage’s Facebook account was suspended in November 2020 because of repeated violations of pushing misinformation and association with Bannon, @wapo reported at the time. His Twitter account is also suspended.
According to the notice, Wright was made aware of the We Stand America event last week when Virginia candidate Kimberly Lowe made a visit to the center.
Wright said in the affidavit that Lowe was streaming on Facebook Live.
In the past, individuals associated with far-right extremist groups including the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters have also appeared at the center, My Rio Grande Valley News reported.
Wright told Insider that the years-long campaign has "taken an immeasurable toll," and that she didn't quite know how to describe how "harmful" it’s been.
The National Butterfly Center sued Kolfage, We Build The Wall, and associated construction companies for their endeavor in 2019 — specifically alleging Kolfage's harassment campaign defamed them.
Since 1994, at least 8,000 migrants have died while passing through Brooks County. "Missing in Brooks County" details migrants' dangerous journey through south Texas. ⬇️ businessinsider.com/missing-in-bro…
Over the past 25 years, thousands of migrants have died — not just on their way to the United States, but within it.
We had emergency physician @DrLeanaWen answer some of our biggest Omicron variant questions, like what it means for booster shots and the holidays. Here’s what you should know. 👇
So far, the Omicron variant appears to be more contagious based on the cases in South Africa, but it’s hard to know if it’ll be more contagious in the US, where the Delta variant has already widely spread. businessinsider.com/insiders-top-h…
Many of the cases reported so far have been more mild, with patients experiencing fatigue, body aches, and flu-like symptoms. businessinsider.com/omicron-causes…
Rittenhouse, now 18, is charged with fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, as well as injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, amid civil unrest in Kenosha in August 2020.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges, testifying he acted in self-defense.
The Republican furor over ‘critical race theory’ — a college-level concept that isn’t taught in K-12 schools — caught many in the education world by surprise.
Now education leaders are pushing back against misinformation.⬇️
When Angela Grunewald first heard complaints about “critical race theory,” the superintendent of Edmond Public Schools in Oklahoma had to Google the term to learn its meaning.
Jury selection in two of the most high-profile murder trials in the country, the Kyle Rittenhouse and Ahmaud Arbery cases, resulted in mostly-white juries.
Legal experts told Insider how this happened, and why the jury selection system is imperfect. ⚖️
White teenager Kyle Rittenhouse faces homicide charges after killing two people and injuring a third during unrest tied to the shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer.
Meanwhile, three white men in Georgia are facing murder charges in connection with the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man whose family says he was out for a jog.
The largest reservoir in the US is drying up. The water there has dropped more than 140 feet in the last two decades.
But the US isn’t the only country experiencing abnormally dry weather conditions.
All around the world, severe droughts are happening 1.7 times more often than in 1850-1900.
So what’s causing this drought, and what could be the long-term damage?
It has to do more with temperature than less rainfall. Even though precipitation was actually above average in many parts of the US this summer, record rain can’t stop high temperatures from evaporating more water.