A California store owner was shot and killed over a Pride flag displayed at her shop
A California store owner was shot and killed over a Pride flag displayed at her shop
*A Southern California business owner was shot and killed Friday by a man who objected to an LGBTQ+ Pride flag displayed at her clothing store, officials said.
San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies responded to the Mag.Pi clothing store in Cedar Glen, Calif., at around 5 p.m. local time for reports of a shooting.
Deputies discovered the victim, 66-year-old Laura Ann Carleton, suffering from a gunshot wound. Carleton was pronounced dead at the scene, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department said in a news release.
The suspect, who was not identified by officials, fled the scene on foot.
According to deputies, the man made "several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag" that stood outside Carleton's store before ultimately shooting her.*
This is terrorism.
Indeed, very much so.
But wait, I've heard "there are good people on both sides" [some infamous criminal].
This is the output of authoritarian rhetoric.
Their first step was making sure their volunteer soldiers could self arm.
Plausible deniability up the whole chain.
This is going to get so much worse.
The culture war is a hot war.
cf Martin Niemöller . . .
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=3lZTUD4nwsg
She left behind a husband and 9 children.
What a homophobic monster.
Right wing terrorism in action.
It's shitty that the guilty party chose death by cop rather than face trial. It would be good to get these fuckers on court TV with all their dirty laundry to boot.
Pull the religion into it, he's a Christian terrorist.
A Zealot of Christ.
I can't believe how unwilling people are to admit that ------ianity is complicit in all these crimes.
Obviously, this is what Jesus wanted. "I come to bring a sword" and all that.
You'd think that decent people would realize that it's time to set the hateful fairy tales aside and actually do the work of being decent humans, but no.
Permanently Deleted
What the actual fuck. We're entering the second dark ages
tHeY jUsT hAvE dIFFeReNt oPiN8OnS tHaN yOu
bOtH sIDeS aRe tHe Same!! 1!!
I find it important to make clear it was a hate crime, but Lauri Carleton was NOT killed “over a rainbow flag outside her clothing store”.
No one gets killed because of a rainbow flag. You get killed because an asshole who wants to rather die than adapt to the world changing wants to spread fear with his last action and needs desperately to find a “reason”. Let’s not pretend he had a reason any other than being a coward.
My heart goes out to her family, friends and the community impacted.
Massive respect and sorrow for the loss of an actual ally.
And fuck that guy and the religion, media, and politicians that made him.
Sic semper bigotis.
I am religious and I believe in life after death. I also believe this dude will suffer for quite some time for this show of intolerance. Every major religion I'm familiar with views murder as unforgivable, and that's precisely what this was, murder of an innocent.
I sincerely hope this person gets what they deserve in the next life.
I have nothing but love for the LGBTQ+ community. I hope the pride flags out there give you some sense of reassurance that the majority is on your side. Screw that guy, and screw anyone that thinks violence is an option to dealing with these types of disagreements. i sincerely hope this convinces others to rethink their own intolerant views.
We used to have a progress flag on our car but took it off months ago due to fears of something like this happening. How senseless and tagic... may she rest in peace.
That’ll teach her for supporting a minority group.
Edit: might have to put an /s at this point….
Sorry, sarcasm is dead
May Laura Ann Carleton rest in peace. She risked her life to support the LGBT community. Her death should not be in vain. Every motherfucker going on about grooming or drag queens or pro-LGBT indoctrination has blood on their hands. Whoever killed her needs to understand the consequences of what they did.
I don't think she really risked her life for it. Nobody puts up a rainbow flag expecting to become a martyr.
What happened is that a crazy person used a flag as an excuse to focus their anger onto someone who had nothing to do with whatever the source of that anger was. It could have been a Joe Biden campaign sign or a marijuana poster that set them off. It just so happens that this time it was a rainbow flag.
I guess my point is that putting up a flag isn't "risking your life," it's just a flag. I see absolutely no reason for Ms. Carleton to have even considered that putting up that flag was a risk. She was an innocent victim of a crazy-person, and that's more terrifying to me than thinking that putting up a flag was risky behavior.
Every time I see another story like this, I get tempted to buy a stack of rainbow bumper stickers to sneakily put them on certain vehicles.
You, of course, mean right over MAGA stickers.
Where else?
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A Southern California business owner was shot and killed Friday by a man who objected to an LGBTQ+ Pride flag displayed at her clothing store, officials said.
San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies responded to the Mag.Pi clothing store in Cedar Glen, Calif., at around 5 p.m. local time for reports of a shooting.
According to deputies, the man made "several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag" that stood outside Carleton's store before ultimately shooting her.
Carleton studied at the Art Center School of Design and had a long career in the fashion industry, including a 15-year run as an executive at Kenneth Cole, the site said.
The Lake Arrowhead LGBTQ organization took to social media to address the shooting, saying that while Carleton did not identify as a member, she spent her time helping and being an advocate for those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Mountain Provisions Cooperative, a local food co-op, said on Instagram that Carleton and her husband had been pivotal in helping organize a free store after a blizzard hit the area earlier this year.
The original article contains 352 words, the summary contains 177 words. Saved 50%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
The suspect, who was not identified by officials,
fledwas allowed to flee the scene on foot.Fixed that for 'em.
That’s a fucking hate crime. It’s too bad he had to kill an innocent person before he did the world a favor and died.