A Chicago woman faces felony charges for allegedly setting off an explosion in the women's restroom of the Evanston Target Store June 8.
Heidi E. Schmidt, 44, of the 4000 block of W. Crystal St. in Chicago, has been charged with one count of aggravated arson and one count of unlawful possession of an explosive or incendiary device.
According to a June 11 EPD statement, Schmidt is alleged to have been in a stall in the restroom at the time of the explosion, which investigators believe emanated from a plastic bottle. Investigators also recovered materials commonly combined in order to produce a chemical high that can become volatile and explode in the mixture process. Schmidt was not injured in the incident and left prior to the police and fire department's arrival.
Commander Joseph Dugan, an EPD spokesperson, told Windy City Times June 10 that the incident was unrelated to Target's stance on transgender rights.
"We did not find anything having to do with the issue of Target and transgender individuals," Dugan said. "We were looking into itwe know that something had just passed in the [Chicago] city council the same daybut we can say that this incident had nothing to do with that."
The Minneapolis-based retail chain has been under fire from right-wing elements since it expressed support for transgender customers and staff in April by affirming their right to use the washroom facilities of the gender with which they identify. Opponents of the policy attempted a large-scale boycott of Target in response, and several individuals protested its shareholders' meeting in Costa Mesa, California, on June 8. Transgender customers and their allies in Chicago were among those who held a demonstration in support, on June 4, at the Uptown Target.