Search icon A magnifying glass. It indicates, "Click to perform a search".
Business Insider logo
Newsletters
World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options."
US Edition
Loading...

Videos show protesters brawling outside LA school meeting on whether to recognize LGBTQ Pride Month

Protesters brawl outside Glendale Unified School District on June 6, 2023.
SKYCAL via CBS News
  • Videos show a brawl taking place outside the Glendale Unified School District HQ on Tuesday evening.
  • It occurred ahead of a school board meeting on whether to recognize June as LGBTQ Pride Month.
  • At least three arrests were made, with police saying people used pepper spray and obstructed officers.

Videos show protesters brawling outside a Glendale Unified School District board meeting on Tuesday evening, ahead of a vote on whether to recognize June as LGBTQ Pride Month.

Aerial footage, which was shared widely on social media and broadcast on local media, shows dozens of protesters and counter-demonstrators scrapping outside the school district building sometime around 6 p.m., according to CBS News.

 

Glendale Police Department said in a news release that several hundred protesters had gathered earlier in the day, with many waving American flags or LGBTQ+ Pride flags.

In the videos, people can be seen kicking, punching, and dragging each other, while police officers try to break up the fight.

Several protesters can be seen wearing "Leave Our Kids Alone" t-shirts, with one counter-demonstrator holding a "Protect Trans Kids" sign.

 

Approximately 50 Glendale police officers were called in to try to quell the situation, which the Los Angeles Blade said involved anti-LGBTQ protesters who had also demonstrated at a North Hollywood elementary school last week.

School administrators told CBS News that many of those participating in the brawl did not have students in the district.

Officers made attempts to de-escalate the situation, with another video showing barriers being deployed to separate the groups, but Glendale Police Department said those attempts failed.

Police said most of the protest was peaceful, but a small number of individuals engaged in behavior that was deemed "unsafe."

At least three individuals were arrested for various charges, which included using pepper spray and willfully obstructing officers, the police department said.

The meeting was temporarily disrupted about an hour into public comments on the agenda item of recognizing LGBTQ Pride Month due to a shelter-in-place order, but board members unanimously approved the motion later in the evening, according to The Los Angeles Times.

After the crowd was dispersed, stickers of the Proud Boys logos were seen on barriers in the parking lot, according to social media posts.

Glendale Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on whether the Proud Boys were involved in the brawl. But extremist watchdogs warned last month that the far-right group was planning their biggest Pride Month disruptions to date.

The Glendale Unified School District did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.