Anti-Armenian Flyers Found Near Glendale School Days After Launch of Western Armenian Program

Glendale police are investigating anti-Armenian flyers found near Glenoaks Elementary School, days after the campus launched a Western Armenian dual-language program described by local officials as the first of its kind in the United States.

The material was scattered through the residential area surrounding the school and was designed to look like folded $100 bills. When opened, the flyers contained an insulting reference to Armenians and the message, “THIS IS AMERICA NOT STUPID ARMENIA.”

The city of Glendale and the Glendale Police Department said they are treating the case as a hate incident.

Police said investigators are working to identify whoever distributed the flyers, determine a possible motive and establish whether any related conduct could support criminal charges. Authorities said they have not yet determined whether the flyers themselves constitute a prosecutable offense.

The incident comes during a significant week for Armenian families in Glendale. Glenoaks Elementary has just opened a Western Armenian Dual Language Immersion Program, an initiative years in the making and aimed at preserving the language among younger generations of Armenian Americans.

The Armenian National Committee of America’s Glendale chapter said the timing and location were especially disturbing because children attending the new program could encounter the material on their way to school.

“Our community worked for years to make the Western Armenian Dual Language Immersion Program a reality, and this week we should be celebrating what that means for our children and future generations,” ANCA Glendale Chair Lucy Petrosian said.

Instead, Petrosian said, families are confronting hateful messages in the neighborhood around the school.

“Our children deserve to learn their language, celebrate their heritage and feel safe doing so,” she said.

ANCA Glendale said it has been in contact with Glendale Unified School District officials and the Police Department and is calling for a full investigation.

City officials said Glendale would not dismiss conduct intended to intimidate or target members of the community. Police are also coordinating with the school district as the investigation continues.

The episode follows other incidents involving Armenian institutions in the Los Angeles area. ANCA Glendale cited previous cases in which anti-Armenian material was left at churches and community centers and Armenian schools were vandalized.

The organization said many of those incidents did not result in anyone being held accountable.

Glendale is home to one of the largest Armenian communities outside Armenia and has long served as a major center of Armenian American education, culture and public life.

ANCA Glendale thanked Glenoaks Elementary administrators and staff for responding quickly to the incident and urged residents who find similar material to report it to police and notify the organization so the cases can be documented.

—

Support independent reporting from the region by subscribing to The Armenian Report. Our team is funded solely by readers like you.