Alabama Planet Fitness locations receive bomb threats, evacuated by FBI

A Fairhope Planet Fitness and neighboring businesses were evacuated by the Mobile FBI Saturday after the gym received a bomb threat.

According to Fairhope Police, a threat was emailed to a news outlet targeting multiple Planet Fitness locations. At least two other Alabama locations in Daphne and Mobile were also targeted, WKRG reported.

“It is important to note that many of the Planet Fitness franchises around the country have received similar threats in recent weeks,” Fairhope police said in a statement.

Planet Fitness locations nationwide have come under attack following social media posts from Libs of TikTok, an account that monitors social media for perceived evidence that LGBTQ people are “grooming” or endangering children.

The right-wing account recently called for a boycott of Planet Fitness because of a company policy allowing transgender members to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender-identity.

Libs of TikTok first posted about the gym on March 11, sharing a video of a customer complaining that there had been a “man shaving in a women’s bathroom.”

The account owner, Chaya Raichick, said in an interview with Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz that she is not responsible for the threats to businesses or individuals that she posts about.

In 2022, employees at a Huntsville dog shelter received death threats after Libs of TikTok posted about a “Drag Queen Story Hour” that took place at the shelter.

There have been recent reports of bomb threats to Planet Fitness gyms in Florida, Michigan and Connecticut. The nonprofit media monitor Media Matters said there have been at least 17 threats nationwide.

The Fairhope location has since reopened. No bombs were found after a two-hour search by the FBI.