By Collin Breaux
Bomb threats made against San Juan Hills High School, a teacher and the Capistrano Unified School District following a Fox News report of a teacher who allegedly had sexually explicit material in their classroom were determined to be “fraudulent” by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, OCSD Public Information Officer Scott Steinle said.
An email sent by an individual named Zamina Tamaro said they placed multiple bombs in the classroom of teacher Flint, the instructor who Fox News said posted on TikTok about their classroom LGBTQ library. The Fox News story has generated backlash against the teacher, school and CUSD from some parents who feel it allows students to read graphic and inappropriate content.
“San Juan Hills High has failed to provide a safe learning environment for its children: it not only allows but encourages sexually deviant and degenerate behavior from its staff,” according to the threatening email sent early in the morning on Tuesday, Dec. 6. “We won’t stand idly by as leftists continue to sexualize our children and push this perverted (expletive) into classrooms. Teachers are there to teach math, science, history and writing, not to talk about sexuality.”
The email further said bombs were placed at other locations in the school, Superintendent Kirsten Vital Brulte’s home and an address said to be the teacher’s home, but which OCSD later determined was not actually their residence.
“You will evacuate or you will all die,” the email said. “We will personally ensure that this subhuman degenerate (expletive) piece of (expletive) is killed.”
The OCSD Hazardous Devices Section went out to San Juan Hills at 8:01 a.m. on Tuesday after being contacted by the school district and found no devices while searching the campus and other threatened locations, Steinle said.
No schools were evacuated.
The FBI and OCSD Cyber Crime Detail are now investigating the threat, according to Steinle. Steinle further said similar threats were also made in other school districts and across the state, including to State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco).
CUSD spokesperson Ryan Burris said OCSD responded quickly to the threat and provided resources at all affected sites to keep students and staff safe and that CUSD is cooperating with OCSD as an investigation is underway.
“We denounce violence and any threat of violence, and we work closely with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to ensure the safety of our students and staff and to investigate any incident involving our schools or district offices,” Burris said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion, tolerance and human and civil rights for all.”
“We are proud of the diversity in our schools and communities, and we are committed to treating all individuals equally, with fairness and kindness,” Burris continued. “We want every student to feel welcome and supported in our schools and classrooms, and our work as a public school district will continue to reflect these values.”
The San Juan Hills Parent Teacher Student Association issued a statement on Wednesday, Dec. 7, standing with the LGBTQ community and denouncing “all hate, violence and rhetoric that has been perpetuated in the national media.”
“Acts of hate have a profound effect on the communities impacted, and our national and local communities must do better,” the Instagram statement said.
The Fox News story quoted Flint’s TikTok video in which they said students “love that library” and that it “has been very helpful for many students figuring out who they are, how to relate to their peers.”
Among the books that were in Flint’s library include This Book is Gay, which Fox News said discusses LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr and allegedly included detailed information on particular sex acts.
An email from CUSD was reportedly sent out after initial outrage over the books that said the books were part of an extracurricular club and “not instructional materials.” CUSD also said they would be reviewing the books.
Collin Breaux
Collin Breaux covers San Juan Capistrano and other South Orange County news as the City Editor for The Capistrano Dispatch. Before moving to California, he covered Hurricane Michael, politics and education in Panama City, Florida. He can be reached by email at cbreaux@picketfencemedia.com.
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