Prosecutors are asking police for further investigation into a threatening tweet directed at a Walkerton restaurant.
The owners of Memories Pizza came under fire this week after an interview in which they expressed support for Indiana’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act and said they would not cater a same-sex wedding because it goes against their religious beliefs.
- RELATED: Memories Pizza in Walkerton supports religious freedom law, April 1, 2015
After the story aired on ABC 57, the pizzeria’s Facebook and Yelp pages were bombarded with negative reviews and #memoriespizza was a trending topic on Twitter.
- RELATED: Memories Pizza in Walkerton receives internet backlash after saying they wouldn’t cater same-sex weddings, April 1, 2015
Jess Dooley, head coach of the Concord High School girls golf program and also an assistant coach with the softball and girls basketball programs, took to Twitter Wednesday, April 1, to voice her opinion about the RFRA.
“Who’s going to Walkerton, IN to burn down #memoriespizza w me?” Dooley tweeted.
Concord Community Schools suspended Dooley from her coaching duties Wednesday and the Walkerton Police Department issued a statement that the case had been sent to the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office for possible charges.
- RELATED: Concord coach invites Twitter to ‘burn down’ RFRA-supporting pizzeria, April 1, 2015
Prosecutors, however, aren’t ready to take the next step in any criminal proceedings.
“Any prosecutor’s office takes allegations of threatened criminal action seriously, regardless of the reasons for the statement,” spokeswoman Jessica McBrier wrote in a news release Thursday, April 2. “However, the Office has reviewed the reports and has determined that further investigation is required.”
This investigation includes verifying the identity of the person who posted the tweet and the IP address the tweet was posted from, according to the news release.
Despite the widespread scorn directed at the small-town business, many others have voiced their support for the owners, who said they’ve closed the store indefinitely due to threats they’ve received.
In less than a day, an online fundraiser for the owners has raised nearly $500,000 from supporters as of Friday morning.
This story originally appeared on elkharttruth.com. It appears here with permission.
