Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
SoCal School Coach Fired After Tortillas Thrown at Team
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
June 23, 2021

Share

A San Diego-area school district voted Tuesday night to fire the head basketball coach after tortillas were hurled at a team from a mostly Latino high school.

The Coronado Unified School Board voted 5-0 in a closed session to release JD Laaperi of Coronado High School and also discussed but didn’t take action on student discipline, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

There had been a squabble between coaching staff from both schools after mostly white Coronado beat visiting Orange Glen High School of Escondido 60-57 in overtime Saturday in a division championship game.

Witnesses alleged that Laaperi shouted expletives at an Orange Glen coach, saying, “Get your kids and get the (expletive) out of here,” the Union-Tribune said.

Coronado School District and Coach Call the Event Unacceptable

Video shared on social media then showed at least two Coronado students throwing tortillas into the air toward the other team.

Coronado Unified School District Superintendent Karl Mueller issued a public message of apology Sunday that called the act “reprehensible.”

In a tweet Saturday, Laaperi said a community member brought tortillas to the game and said the incident was “unacceptable and racist in nature.”

“I do not condone this behavior. Coronado High School does not condone this behavior and is already taking appropriate action,” he tweeted.

Both school districts, along with Coronado police and the California Interscholastic Federation, are conducting investigations into the incident.

Team Captain Says the Act Was Unsportsmanlike, Not Racist

Wayne McKinney, captain of the Coronado basketball team, has said players and coaches had received hate messages and death threats over the incident, according to the Union-Tribune.

On Tuesday, he called the tortilla-throwing unsportsmanlike but not an act of bigotry.

“It was not based on race or class; it was simply a great game between two teams,” McKinney said. “I think many people are making Saturday out to be something it was not.”

“Even if they were not intended as racist, we cannot ignore that our guests, these children who played their hearts out for a championship, felt attacked because they were Hispanic,” Coronado school trustee Whitney Antrim said during the meeting.

In a community letter Tuesday, Escondido Union High School District Superintendent Anne Staffieri said that following its investigation, the district wants to bring together students from both teams “to face one another, to confront, discuss and grow stronger through honest discussions and sincere apologies.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Dems: We Will Save GOP Speaker Johnson’s Job if Republicans Try to Oust Him

DON'T MISS

Angels Star Mike Trout Needs Knee Surgery. Will He Return This Season?

DON'T MISS

Will Fresno Unified Voters Agree to Raise Their Taxes in November?

DON'T MISS

Politics Killed Deal for Vacant Fresno Building. Now, Who Wants to Move In?

DON'T MISS

Campaign to Build New California City Submits Signatures to Get on November Ballot

DON'T MISS

Scammers Stole More Than $3.4 Billion from Older Americans Last Year, an FBI Report Says

DON'T MISS

Principal Makes Case for Bullard High Fence: It Will Keep Students, Staff Safe

DON'T MISS

Mammograms Should Start at 40 to Address Rising Breast Cancer Rates at Younger Ages, Panel Says

DON'T MISS

4 Law Officers Serving Warrant Are Killed, 4 Wounded in Shootout at North Carolina Home, Police Say

DON'T MISS

Hush Money Trial Enters 3rd Week, Begins With Gag Order Ruling and $9K Fine for Trump

UP NEXT

Hush Money Trial Enters 3rd Week, Begins With Gag Order Ruling and $9K Fine for Trump

UP NEXT

Planning for Potential Presidential Transition Underway by Biden Administration

UP NEXT

US Is Building a Pier off Gaza to Bring in Humanitarian Aid. Here’s How It Would Work.

UP NEXT

Trump’s Potential VP Pick Boasts About Executing Puppy

UP NEXT

Fresno Trash Hauler’s Response to Overpayments: We Followed the City’s Rules

UP NEXT

US Growth Slows Sharply Amid High Interest Rates and Inflation

UP NEXT

Hamas Official: We’ll Put Down Arms if an Independent Palestine Is Created

UP NEXT

Ex-State Department Official: Israeli Military Gets Preferential Treatment on Abuses

UP NEXT

Ancestry Website to Catalogue Names of Japanese Americans Incarcerated During World War II

UP NEXT

Google Fires More Workers Who Protested Its Deal With Israel

Politics Killed Deal for Vacant Fresno Building. Now, Who Wants to Move In?

15 hours ago

Campaign to Build New California City Submits Signatures to Get on November Ballot

15 hours ago

Scammers Stole More Than $3.4 Billion from Older Americans Last Year, an FBI Report Says

16 hours ago

Principal Makes Case for Bullard High Fence: It Will Keep Students, Staff Safe

16 hours ago

Mammograms Should Start at 40 to Address Rising Breast Cancer Rates at Younger Ages, Panel Says

16 hours ago

4 Law Officers Serving Warrant Are Killed, 4 Wounded in Shootout at North Carolina Home, Police Say

16 hours ago

Hush Money Trial Enters 3rd Week, Begins With Gag Order Ruling and $9K Fine for Trump

16 hours ago

EPA Bans Consumer Use of a Toxic Chemical Widely Used as a Paint Stripper but Known to Cause Cancer

16 hours ago

Is the ‘Scholasticide’ in Gaza Spreading to the United States?

16 hours ago

How Did Watchdog Respond to Arias Ethics Complaint on DA Smittcamp?

17 hours ago

Dems: We Will Save GOP Speaker Johnson’s Job if Republicans Try to Oust Him

WASHINGTON — House Democrats will vote to save Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s job should some of his fellow Republican lawmakers seek to ...

13 hours ago

13 hours ago

Dems: We Will Save GOP Speaker Johnson’s Job if Republicans Try to Oust Him

Photo of Mike Trout
13 hours ago

Angels Star Mike Trout Needs Knee Surgery. Will He Return This Season?

14 hours ago

Will Fresno Unified Voters Agree to Raise Their Taxes in November?

15 hours ago

Politics Killed Deal for Vacant Fresno Building. Now, Who Wants to Move In?

15 hours ago

Campaign to Build New California City Submits Signatures to Get on November Ballot

16 hours ago

Scammers Stole More Than $3.4 Billion from Older Americans Last Year, an FBI Report Says

16 hours ago

Principal Makes Case for Bullard High Fence: It Will Keep Students, Staff Safe

16 hours ago

Mammograms Should Start at 40 to Address Rising Breast Cancer Rates at Younger Ages, Panel Says

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend