Walkerton Police Department beefing up security after threats Posted: Thursday, April 2, 2015 12:22 AM EDT Updated: Thursday, April 2, 2015 11:36 AM EDT Posted:Updated: 
 
 The owners of Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana are getting backlash for agreeing with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). 
 
 
 
 In an interview Crystal O'Connor did with the Blaze Radio and TV Network on Wednesday, she said she is afraid to come out of her house. 
 
 
 
 She even went as far as saying the family might leave Indiana altogether. 
 
 
 
 It is an issue that Walkerton Police are dealing with; Assistant Police Chief Charles Kulp said the way people are behaving is unacceptable. 
 
 
 
 “We're a small town and don't like to be in the limelight for negative reasons,” said Charles Kulp, the Assistant Police Chief for Walkerton Police Department. 
 
 
 
 Walkerton, Indiana is home to just over 2,000 people. 
 
 
 
 “I don't know if we will reopen, if we can,” said Crystal O'Connor to Blaze Christian Radio. 
 
 
 
 She owns Memories Pizza in Walkerton with other family members. 
 
 
 
 O'Connor told ABC57 that she agreed with Indiana's newly adopted RFRA. 
 
 
 
 “If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding we would have to say no,” said O'Connor to ABC57. 
 
 
 
 After that interview, she said she is afraid to step outside of her house. 
 
 
 
 Kulp said it should not be that way. 
 
 
 
 “There's a proper forum with disagreeing, with anything. Breaking the law is not the proper form,” said Kulp. 
 
 
 
 The police department is monitoring activity on social media, concerned for their citizens. 
 
 
 
 “We've had other businesses call concerned with the well-being of their businesses,” said Kulp. 
 
 
 
 Police said a prime example is what ABC57 captured from the twitter page of Concord High School's Girl's Golf Head Coach. 
 
 
 
 Jessica Dooley Tweeted, “Who's going to Walkerton, IN to burn down #memoriespizza w me? Agree with #FreedomofReligion bill? “That's a lifestyle they CHOOSE” Ignorant” 
 
 
 
 Police said it is a threat of arson they are not taking lightly. 
 
 
 
 Dooley has already been suspended from the school. 
 
 
 
 “We have investigated her, we have talked to her and we have submitted a criminal case against her in this manner,” said Kulp. 
 
 
 
 The department also believes increased patrol on the streets is necessary. 
 
 
 
 “We've called in additional police officers; additional units are on patrol just to be here for the peace of mind of the citizen,” said Kulp. 
 
 
 
 Walkerton Police have submitted their case to St. Joseph County prosecutors. ||||| The Christian owners of a small Indiana pizzeria who became the first to publicly state they would deny catering an LGBT couple’s wedding in the wake of the state’s new and controversial Religious Freedom Law, said the business was forced to close Wednesday after a wave of online criticism and threats. 
 
 Shortly after Memories Pizza owners told a local TV station Tuesday that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act would allow them to deny catering a same-sex wedding, 1-star Yelp reviews rolled in denouncing the business. 
 
 The owners of the Walkerton, Indiana, pizzeria told ABC 57 that they would not deny service to same-sex couples, or a couple belonging to another religion, but added that they would not cater a same-sex wedding if asked. 
 
 “We’re not discriminating against anyone, that’s just our belief and anyone has the right to believe in anything,” co-owner Crystal O’Connor told the station. 
 
 Crystal’s father, Kevin O’Connor, also defended the decision. 
 
 “That lifestyle is something they choose,” he said. “I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual. Why would I be beat over the head to go along with something they choose?” 
 
 In less than a day, thousands of negative reviews were posted on the restaurant’s Yelp page and a fake website with the company’s name was created. 
 
 Walkerton Police Department officials told BuzzFeed News that investigators were looking into several threats made against Memories Pizza, including those reported by the owners and posted on social media. At least one case has been forwarded to prosecutors. ||||| The town of Walkerton and the Memories Pizza restaurant have gained national attention after an ABC57 story Tuesday evening. The restaurant's owners support the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 
 
 The town of Walkerton and the Memories Pizza restaurant have gained national attention after an ABC57 story Tuesday evening. The restaurant's owners support the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 
 
 The town of Walkerton and the Memories Pizza restaurant have gained national attention after an ABC57 story Tuesday evening. The restaurant's owners support the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 
 
 In a press conference in Indianapolis, Indiana Governor Mike Pence addressed concerns about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which has put the state in the national spotlight.
– The owners of the pizzeria in Walkerton, Ind., that told a local TV station they would refuse to cater a gay wedding has seen their world turn upside down since Tuesday night. In an interview with TheBlaze TV, Crystal O'Connor says Memories Pizza has been closed since the comments she and her father made in support of the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act attracted national attention. "I don't know if we will re-open, or if we can, if it's safe to re-open," she notes. As for what the family is doing in the meantime: "We're in hiding, basically ... staying in the house." O'Connor adds that she's been suspended from another job she has "until this clears up," so she has no income coming in. She's not the only one experiencing job issues: ABC57 reports that a golf coach at Concord High School in Elkhart has been suspended after she allegedly tweeted under the since-deleted account @dooley_11: "Who's going to Walkerton, IN to burn down #memoriespizza w me? Agree with #FreedomofReligion bill? "That's a lifestyle they CHOOSE" Ignorant." In a statement, Walkerton police say they've passed the findings of their investigation into the tweet to local prosecutors "for possible charging of harassment, intimidation, and threats." The department, which notes additional units are patrolling the town of 2,000, asks "that all frustrations and rebuttals with Memories Pizza's recent media statements remain within the law." The tweet is far from the only negative comment that's been made: At the time of this writing, 3,845 Yelp reviews had been removed by the site. As for O'Connor's income woes, they may not be as dire as they seem: A GoFundMe account that BuzzFeed reports was set up by TheBlaze "to relieve the financial loss endured by the proprietors’ stand for faith" has raised more than $55,000 in the last 13 hours. (Here's how Indiana GOPers want to "clarify" the RFRA.)