The Red Oak Community School canceled its Holi-drag storytime Saturday morning following promises of protest from the Proud Boys and what school officials described as only a "casual, distant acknowledgement" of the event from police.

[...]The event drew protesters even after organizers canceled it.

The Ohio Chapter of the Proud Boys, an extremist organization whose leadership has been charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, posted on the social media platform Telegram last month that it intended to attend and protest the storytime event.

“It’s going to be wild,” the group said in its posting.

In a video statement Saturday morning, organizers said they'd reached out to Columbus police about their concerns that the Proud Boys would intimidate and harass their event attendees and organizers, but that police had "offered nothing."

"I spent a week calling our police department and leaving voicemails about the reports we had seen," said Cheryl Ryan, Red Oak Community School Manager, in the video posted to YouTube Saturday. "After a week, I was told we could hire a special duty officer, who may or may not show up because they're understaffed."