A rainbow Pride flag was burned at a California elementary school set to host an LGBT Pride event Friday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The burnt Pride flag was found in a plant pot on May 22 and is being investigated as a hate crime, police said. There are no current suspects, police added.
"The investigation is ongoing. It is a vandalism hate crime. The hate crime is still significant, but it is a misdemeanor," said Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton of the Valley Bureau.
The school, Saticoy Elementary, has faced criticism in recent weeks ahead of its scheduled Pride event for children on June 2. The Pride event will include an assembly for students, where a video will be shown that states, "some kids have two mommies, some have two daddies," according to the Saticoy Elementary Parents' Instagram page.
The Saticoy Elementary Parents group encouraged parents to keep their children out of school Friday. The group will hold a protest of the assembly that morning. Posts on the group's Instagram claims it has 500 signatures against the assembly, which it said did not require a permission slip from parents.
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"We respect everyone, but some things are appropriate for children that age, and some things are not," George Dzhabroyan, a parent at the school, told KTLA in May. "Hopefully the message gets across and people understand that parents should be the primary contact of what their children should be exposed to and shouldn’t be exposed to."
Parents in opposition to the assembly have denied responsibility for the burnt flag and condemned the action.
Flyers detailing the scheduled protest are written in English, Spanish and Armenian.
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"It was bone-chilling when I first read it," Roberto Salcedo, a teacher at nearby Monlux Elementary, told KTLA. "If you really read it for what it is, it’s to incite hatred against people who are different. The message I want parents to realize is that we are all different, and we all need to respect our differences."
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) released a statement in response to criticism, which focused on the importance of promoting diversity.
"As part of our engagement with school communities, our schools regularly discuss the diversity of the families that we serve and the importance of inclusion," LAUSD said in a statement. "This remains an active discussion with our school communities and we remain committed to continuing to engage with families about this important topic."
