Man arrested for threatening to shoot Conejo Valley Unified superintendent

Thousand Oaks police arrested a Goleta man Saturday on suspicion of calling the Conejo Valley Unified school district and threatening to “put a bullet” through the skull of superintendent Mark McLaughlin, the Ventura County Star reported.

The threat appears to stem from unconfirmed claims by a parent at a Sept. 20 school board meeting that her daughter witnessed another student masturbate in class, the superintendent told the Ventura County Star. The claim has been published by right-leaning websites, though no one else from the class has corroborated that claim, the Star reported. The websites accuse McLaughlin of brushing off the incident as normal, and he is pursuing legal action.

Conservative activists, incited by national right-wing groups, have been protesting at Conejo Valley Unified board meetings for months about the district’s handling of transgender issues in the classroom, according to the Star. Conservative organization Turning Point USA added Conejo Valley Unified to a “Watchlist” of “radical” school boards, publishing the district’s office phone number and contact information for the five board members.