Maine cafe gets bomb threat amid backlash to owner’s alleged Trump comment

This story will be updated.

A bomb threat was made Tuesday against a Waldo County restaurant that’s now facing a backlash over comments that conservative activists say its owner made on social media about the shooting attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Members of the Maine State Police arrived at Ralph’s Cafe in Brooks late Tuesday morning, along with firefighters, and they were still investigating the bomb threat shortly after noon.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the bomb threat was real, or whether it was connected to the online backlash that Ralph’s Cafe has been facing for the last 48 hours. A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety confirmed that a bomb threat had been made and that it was still under investigation.

Dozens of one-star reviews have been left online for Ralph’s Cafe since Monday evening. The backlash has come after conservative activists accused its owner, Frank Champa, of writing a Facebook post that made light of the shooting attempt Saturday night on Trump. The accusations against Champa have gone viral after they were picked up and shared by at least one prominent conservative account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Those posts have included a screenshot of the alleged Facebook post by Champa, in which a user of his name wrote, in white letters against a purple background, “Hey guy with the bad aim. You had one job.”

The authenticity of that Facebook post couldn’t immediately be verified. It does not currently appear on the public section of Champa’s account, and he has not immediately responded to multiple requests for comment.

BDN writers Sasha Ray and Jules Walkup contributed reporting.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled the name of the owner of Ralph’s Cafe. The owner’s name is spelled Frank Champa.