Flyers attacking Armenians were found on vehicles and scattered near the grounds of Glenoaks Elementary School in Glendale, and the city is investigating the case as a hate incident, reports Zartonk Media, citing the Armenian Bar Association and a joint statement from the City of Glendale and the Glendale Police Department.
The flyers read “STUPIDIANS THIS IS AMERICA NOT STUPID ARMENIA.” The lettering is printed in red, blue and orange, the colors of the Armenian flag.
School officials and members of the public discovered them, the Armenian Bar Association said in an open letter published Thursday, which condemned “the hateful flyers targeting Armenians, including children.”
“The flyers contain derogatory language specifically targeting the Armenian community, and we are treating this matter as a hate incident,” the city and police department said in their joint statement.
Investigators are working to identify the individual or individuals responsible, understand their motive, and determine whether there is any additional conduct that may constitute a crime. The city said it has not established whether the materials as they stand amount to a prosecutable criminal offense.
In California, a hate crime is a criminal act motivated by bias. A hate incident covers bias-motivated conduct that has not been established as criminal.
The city said it does not disregard “conduct intended to intimidate, demean, target or create fear within any segment of our community,” and that behavior which reasonably causes fear or concern will be thoroughly investigated with action taken based on what is found.
Glendale Unified School District has been contacted, is aware of the incident and is assisting where appropriate.
The Armenian Bar Association built its letter around what a school is supposed to be. “Schools are meant to be sanctuaries,” it said, “places of learning, safety, and curiosity,” which requires that they stay welcoming to every student regardless of ethnic background or national identity.
“Armenian American children between the ages of 4 and 12, like all students who wake up in the morning to make their daily commute, deserve to arrive at school greeted by familiar faces and a supportive environment, not by hateful material targeting their identity,” the letter said.
Language attacking an entire group of elementary students tends “to intimidate, provoke fear, and generate stress and anxiety,” the association wrote. If whoever produced the flyer meant to convey a political message, the letter said, the flyer makes no such message clear.
The association also took a position on the legal question. First Amendment protections are “neither relevant here,” it wrote, nor do they extend to conduct or speech that threatens, intimidates or disrupts the functioning of a school environment.
Beverly Hills police reached a conclusion on a comparable case in 2023. After anti-Armenian flyers calling for wiping Armenia off the map were distributed there that January, the department determined they were protected by the First Amendment.
The association called on Glenoaks Elementary officials to exercise heightened diligence so the campus stays “a place of learning, safety, and respect, and not of ethnic hostility.” It said it expects a thorough and expeditious investigation and credited the Glendale Police Department’s efforts to identify those responsible.
Glendale is home to the largest Armenian American population in the United States. In March 2023, 11 flyers denying the Armenian Genocide and calling for its completion were found on light poles around St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church in the city, and Glendale police investigated that case as a hate crime.
The Armenian Bar Association has previously traced a wider pattern, citing arson and vandalism at St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church and the Krouzian-Zekarian-Vasbouragan school in San Francisco, followed by attacks on Ferrahian Armenian High School and the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Los Angeles.
Anyone with information can reach the Glendale Police Department at (818) 548-4911. Anonymous tips go to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
