The Maine State Police responded Tuesday to a report of a bomb threat at Ralph’s Café in Brooks. Café owner Frank Champa has been targeted by right-wing media following an inflammatory post he made about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Dylan Tusinski/Morning Sentinel

BROOKS — A popular breakfast spot was closed Tuesday after receiving a bomb threat that came following an uproar over the owner joking on social media about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

The Maine State Police bomb squad was on scene at Ralph’s Café, a brunch spot in the small Waldo County town, after the restaurant received a bomb threat shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to Shannon Moss, public information officer for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The threat was confirmed to be a hoax and no one was inside the building when it was made, Moss said. Maine State Police cruisers were seen clearing the scene shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday.

The café’s owner, Frank Champa, was targeted in recent days by right-wing media personality Steve Robinson and the social media account “Libs of TikTok” after Champa made an inflammatory social media post joking about the assassination attempt on Trump.

The shooting occurred at a rally Saturday evening in Butler, Pa., where authorities say a lone gunman fired several shots from a nearby rooftop, killing a bystander, critically wounding two others and piercing Trump’s right ear with a bullet.

Champa posted a message to Facebook shortly after the shooting stating: “Hey guy with the bad aim. You had one job.”

Robinson initially posted a screenshot of Champa’s statement alongside the cafe’s address and phone number to his Twitter/X account. Chaya Raichik, a right-wing activist who runs the “Libs of Tiktok” Twitter/X account, retweeted Robinson’s post and wrote “If you live in Brooks, Maine, beware of this restaurant! The owner wants you dead.”

Raichik’s post received nearly 20,000 likes and 11,000 retweets, with many in the comments expressing shock at the statement and threatening to boycott the café. Dozens of one-star reviews poured onto Ralph Cafe’s Google and Yelp accounts after the publicity.

It was not immediately clear if the bomb threat was connected to Champa’s post or the controversy that followed it.

State police later confirmed that the threat was a hoax, saying that no explosives were found at the café after the Maine State Police Bomb Unit and several K9 teams swept the area.

Tuesday’s incident was the latest in a string of bomb threats over the past year that have targeted Maine lawmakers, courthouses, businesses and state officials.

A Planet Fitness location in Waterville was one of nearly four dozen to receive bomb threats across the country in April after Raichik began posting about the company’s decision to ban an Alaska woman who snapped and shared a photo in one of its locker rooms of a transgender woman shaving in a woman’s bathroom.

A similar threat was made in March toward the Maine State House, two Democratic legislators and the Maine Democratic Party headquarters in a typo-laden email that promised death to pedophiles and stated “We are not (going) to stand idly by as you degenerates mutilate our children and push your perverted sexual fantasy upon us.”

While the March threat’s motive wasn’t entirely clear, it came after hearings that week by the Legislature’s Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee on a contentious bill that would shield Maine’s health care providers from laws in other states that ban or limit abortions or gender-affirming care. Perry and Bailey are the chairs of that committee. The bill would later pass in April.

In January, the Maine State House was evacuated after a group sent hoax emails to capitol employees claiming they had planted a bomb in the building. The next day, courthouses in Portland and Augusta were also evacuated after the same group sent another email claiming bombs had been left at judicial centers across Maine.

Just days before, the home of Maine Secretary of State Shanna Bellows was the target of a “swatting” attack, in which someone falsely reports a violent crime with the intent of eliciting a strong police response. Maine State Troopers responded to a report of a break-in at Bellows’ residence but found no people or suspicious items in the house.

A spokesperson for the Maine Department of the Secretary of State said at the time that the office continues to receive “threatening communications” which were being referred to law enforcement, but did not elaborate.

The police investigation into Tuesday’s bomb threat against Ralph’s Café is ongoing, Moss said Tuesday.