An LGBTQ+ flag placed in a plant pot outside of a classroom at Saticoy Elementary School was lit on fire, the flag was destroyed, and it is being investigated as a possible hate crime, according to a report by the LADN.
The school has been the focus of a group of parents who are objecting to an upcoming Pride Day assembly on Friday, June 2, at which the school plans to teach children about LGBTQ+ identities during a book reading.
The fire incident at the school is being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department, said Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton of the Valley Bureau. “The investigation is ongoing. It is a vandalism hate crime. The hate crime is still significant but it is a misdemeanor,” he said on May 27.
The blackened planter and burned flag were discovered by school personnel on Monday, May 22, at 6:30 a.m., Hamilton said. He did not know when the planter and flag were burned and there are no suspects, he said.
Conservative parents with children enrolled at the school last week posted their objections on social media to the upcoming school assembly and book reading on June 2, asking parents to boycott the event and “keep their children home and innocent” that day. The group passed out flyers in the neighborhood with a similar message.
A flyer was posted on a social media account named, “@Saticoyelementaryparents” that encouraged parents to keep their kids home and to “Protest against Pride Day assembly, an inappropriate topic for our kids!”
The social media account was created earlier this month after parents saw a rainbow parade assembly noted on the school calendar. The account has received some backlash from parents that support the school and its decision to hold the Pride events.
