National Butterfly Center targeted by conspiracy theorists reopens along Texas border
March 16, 2022Updated: March 16, 2022 3:49 p.m.
National Butterfly Center Executive Director Marianna Trevino Wright, right, talks with employees collecting plant seeds in Mission, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022.
Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express-News
The National Butterfly Center on the Texas border has partially reopened, weeks after it closed citing conspiracy-fueled attacks on social media.
The sanctuary, part of the North American Butterfly Association, made the announcement Wednesday.
“We re-opened for members only yesterday, and another special visitor appeared, the Curve-winged Metalmark!,” the center said in a tweet, alongside a photo of the brown-striped species, which is rare in the Rio Grande Valley.
The center shut down operations in early February, days after GOP operatives confronted employees there about baseless conspiracy theories linking the site to sex trafficking. Leaders said they feared the attacks could lead to violence.
More than 35,000 people visit the center each year to catch glimpses of the hundreds of species of butterflies. It has been a target for right-wing attacks since it sued the Trump administration in 2017 over its plans to build a border wall through the 100-acre nature preserve.
jeremy.blackman@chron.com
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