E.O. Green School Shooting - Response

Response

Vigils and marches were organized across the United States following King's death. Sympathies for King have been expressed by numerous people including Judy Shepard, Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese, Senator Hillary Clinton and television host Ellen DeGeneres. A thousand students in the Hueneme School District, where E.O. Green is located, marched to pay tribute to King on February 16, 2008, four days after the shooting.

A new diversity education bill was introduced on behalf of King by California Assemblyperson Mike Eng, saying, "We need to teach young people that there's a curriculum called tolerance education that should be in every school. We should teach young people that diversity is not something to be assaulted, but diversity is something that needs to be embraced because diversity makes California the great state that it is." The bill would require mandatory classes on diversity and tolerance in California school districts.

A local vigil in Ventura, California was organized one year after King's death. The Day of Silence for 2008, which is intended to protest LGBT harassment and occurred on April 25, was specially dedicated to King. King's father Greg is unconvinced his adoptive son was gay as Larry had only recently told him that he was actually bisexual. Greg believes that Larry was sexually harassing McInerney, and has expressed concern that Larry is being made a poster child for gay rights issues.

Teachers also showed sympathy for McInerney. "We failed Brandon," a teacher said. "We didn't know the bullying was coming from the other side—Larry was pushing as hard as he could, because he liked the attention." Hundreds of children from the school have signed a petition requesting that McInerney be tried as a juvenile.