Kearns Athletes Suspended After Video Of Gay Pride Flag Burning
Jun 18, 2019, 5:59 PM
KEARNS, Utah – Two Kearns High School athletes have been suspended from the football team indefinitely for their role in posting and sharing an upsetting video online.
The Snapchat video showed someone burning a rainbow LGBTQ pride flag. The video has since been circulating on social media.
Near the end of it, someone can be heard to say, “All gays die.”
The video came to the attention of the Granite School District early Monday morning.
District spokesperson Ben Horsley spoke with KSL reporter Dan Rascon.
“These individuals were not on school property, they were not threatening any individual, specific students,” Horsley said. “However, they were posting something on social media that could potentially have a detrimental impact on the school environment, which is why we have the ability and the necessity to take action in this particular case.”
Horsley said the student who originally posted the video was an incoming freshman, so he has not yet attended Kearns or played in a football game for the school.
The district planned on having former students who were part of the LGBTQ community to speak to the students involved, as well as the entire football team.
There was also an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by the Unified Police Department. It was not clear what charges the students could face.
While the two students were kicked off the football team, the district was still in the process of determining if they will face academic consequences, as well.