HSBB Coach JD Laaperi Fired After Players Allegedly Throw Tortillas at Opponent

The Coronado (California) Unified School Board voted unanimously to fire boy's basketball coach JD Laaperi after allegations that at least two of his players threw tortillas in the direction of the Orange Glen High team after a Saturday game, according to Kristen Taketa of the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

Per Taketa:

"According to witnesses, Coronado head basketball coach JD Laaperi allegedly cursed at an Orange Glen coach after the game, saying, 'That's why you don't talk (expletive). Get your kids and get the (expletive) out of here.'

"That's when, according to video footage circulated on social media, at least two Coronado players flung tortillas into the air toward the Orange Glen team."

Because Orange Glen High is largely Latino, many organizations—including Gente Unida, the People's Association of Justice Advocates, Latino American Political Association, Chicano Federation, La Raza Lawyers, North County Equity and Justice Coalition, NAACP San Diego, CAIR-San Diego, and the League of United Latin American Citizens—have viewed the tortilla throwing as racist in nature. 

The Coronado Unified School District, Escondido Union High School District, Coronado police and the California Interscholastic Federation are all investigating. Both teams are under investigation.

On Saturday, Laaperi tweeted that he did not condone the actions of those who threw the tortillas and called it an act of racism:

The captain of the Coronado boy's basketball team, Wayne McKinney, said he did not believe the action was meant to be racist, though he did note that it was an unsportsmanlike gesture and said he apologized to Orange Glen High, per Taketa.

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

But Coronado Board Trustee Whitney Antrim offered a different perspective.

"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," she said.