Calif. Shopkeeper Shot and Killed in Pride Flag Confrontation

Facts

• Laura Ann Carleton, the 66-year-old owner of the Mag.Pi clothing store in Cedar Glen, California, was shot and killed on Friday after a dispute over the rainbow Pride flag outside her store, according to authorities.¹
• The suspect, who has not been identified, fled the scene on foot and was found by police in possession of a handgun. After a "lethal force encounter" with police, the man was pronounced dead, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.²
• The police say that the suspect made "several disparaging remarks" about the Pride flag before allegedly killing Carleton. Deputies responded to the shooting at around 5 p.m. local time where Carleton was pronounced dead on the scene.³
• A community LGBTQ+ group remembers Carleton, who did not identify as LGBTQ+, as an advocate for "everyone in the community." Carleton's daughter Ari said the Pride flag had been stolen and replaced numerous times in the past.¹
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom described the shooting as "absolutely horrific" on social media. Hollywood Director Paul Feig, a friend of Carleton, blamed "hateful language" for the shooting and other acts of violence that have targeted the LGBTQ+ community.⁴
• The incident occurred in Cedar Glen, a town approximately 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. LGBTQ+ rights group GLAAD [Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation] and the Anti-Defamation League report more than 350 incidents of vandalism, assault, and harassment against the LGBTQ+ community in the US since June 2022.⁵

Sources: ¹The New York Times, ²BBC News, ³NBC, ⁴CNN, and ⁵CBS.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by USA Today. An innocent woman has been killed as a result of inflammatory right-wing scaremongering over sexual and gender "culture war" issues. The right's attacks on the LGBTQ+ community have created intense fear, where threats of violence against them loom larger than ever before. The repercussions of this rhetoric go beyond trying to get votes — it gets people killed.
• Right narrative, as provided by Newsweek. This is a tragic case, the circumstances of which we do not fully know, especially with regard to the mental state of the accused. The LGBTQ+ community has unfortunately been hijacked by a radical fringe that is out-of-step with the public's views, risking adding fuel to the fire and causing more harm to the LGBTQ+ community. Carleton should be mourned without being used to fuel divisive, woke rhetoric.