Utah High School Football Players Accused of Burning Gay Pride Flag

A pair of Utah high school football players have been accused of posting a Snapchat video showing them burning a gay pride flag.

The video reportedly posted last week shows a young man setting a gay pride flag on fire while a voice is heard saying, “all gays die,” the New York Post reported.

The teens in the video were identified as students of the Granite School District in Kearns, Utah. But their names were not released publicly. Punishment for the students is still being considered, according to reports.

“There’s no place for that in our program at all, and it won’t be tolerated,” said Kearns football coach Matt Rickards. “It’s potentially a hate crime, so it sickens me.”

School administrators also said the video could be considered cyberbullying and is a violation of school rules.

“We want to make sure every student who walks through our doors feels safe and secure in the environment that they’re in,” district spokesman Ben Horsley said in a statement. “Whether it was done intentionally with a threat in mind or for humor’s sake, it’s inappropriate. And we’re going to address it in a very serious fashion.”

However, the local police determined that there is no crime involved in the video because no specific person was targeted or threatened.

The alarmed reaction to a video of the burning of a gay pride flag stands in stark contrast to the wide support Democrats have for the burning of the American flag, an act many feel is something akin to a patriotic act.

Last week the debate over burning the American flag was reignited when Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana proposed a constitutional amendment to prohibit the burning of the American flag.

Daines called Old Glory “a timeless symbol of liberty that tells the story of America, the story of our enduring pursuit of freedom.” the Sen. added that “Remembering the sacrifices of all who carried its colors into battle, our nation should always render the flag the honor and dignity it is due.”

The amendment won the support of President Donald Trump, who called the proposal a “no brainer.”

All in for Senator Steve Daines as he proposes an Amendment for a strong BAN on burning our American Flag. A no brainer!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2019

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.