One man was beaten and left unresponsive on the ground as an anti-Pride protester yelled “he has to suffer.” Heated clashes between protesters angry about a Pride assembly at a North Hollywood school and LGBT supporters left one man beaten to the ground and many questioning why police didn’t do more to keep the peace. Last month, a group of Saticoy Elementary School parents set up an Instagram account to protest a planned Gay Pride and Rainbow Day assembly on June 2—the beginning of Pride month. Tensions escalated over the weekend of May 22 when an unknown assailant broke into the school and burned a small LGBT pride flag that a Saticoy teacher had placed in a flower pot. Local LGBT groups, faith groups and allies held a vigil outside the school Friday morning while the assembly took place inside. They waved rainbow flags and umbrellas. One attendee held a sign reading “I Hope U Know How Loved U Are.” On the other side, dozens of protesters angry about the Pride assembly, wore white shirts that read “Leave Our Kids Alone,” and held signs saying “Stop Grooming Our Kids.” Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, a freelance videographer who was covering the protests, told The Daily Beast he heard protesters on the anti-Pride side repeatedly using antisemitic and anti-gay slurs. He said around 9.20 a.m. many of the pro-Pride protestors left and police stopped separating the two groups, who began to intermingle. That’s when violence broke out with multiple videos showing anti-Pride protestors beating a man, who then became unresponsive and was removed by police, according to Beckner-Carmitchel.
via daily beast: Violence Erupts at Anti-Pride School Assembly Protest in North Hollywood