8 June 1 - 7, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents named Marvin Lowe was accused of ha- rassing a transgender student at a San An- tonio educational conference. According to The Dallas Morning News, Lowe ap- proached a teenage student after a session about transgender students in Texas schools, saying that he was a Republican with different views on the subject. The complaint said Lowe started talking about how “Men like to walk around naked with their junk hanging around,” the News reported. Lowe has said that this isn’t true and that he approached the student out of love. It is unclear if the reported complaint against Lowe is one of the open investiga- tions into the Frisco ISD. Pride Frisco is a charity organization sup- porting LGBTQ communities in Frisco and North Texas. It was founded by Justin and Jon Culpepper, a married couple. The organiza- tion sent out a press release last week saying Frisco ISD was the subject of 13 open federal civil rights investigations. Reached for com- ment, the school district said this isn’t true. “Frisco ISD currently has seven open OCR investigations,” a spokesperson for the district said. “The OCR website lists an in- vestigation under each statute that applies to the allegation. As a result, two of the in- vestigations are listed three times each and two are listed two times each. However, there are only seven open investigations.” The spokesperson also said none of these seven complaints involved LGBTQ students or issues. The district has responded to all of these complaints, according to the spokes- person, and one has been assigned a federal mediator to try to resolve the situation with- out a formal investigation. The spokesperson said: “The [com- plaint] summaries reveal no patterns or commonalities that would lead us to be- lieve there are any systemic issues. In fact, in all seven of these cases, we believe that OCR is likely to determine that the district acted appropriately.” Justin Culpepper of Pride Frisco said that Frisco may be gaining new residents at a rapid rate, but the people moving here are starting to realize it’s not very welcoming to everyone. “Yes, other districts have been facing simi- lar complaints and investigations, but the sheer volume here and the speed at which they were all opened is significant,” Justin said. “This is also in one of the fastest-grow- ing cities in America that has been attempt- ing to sell itself as diverse, tolerant, welcoming. “Many companies and businesses, fami- lies, etc., are relocating here only to realize that the schools are great if you fit a certain mold but their children don’t fit that mold and are miserable, and the school leadership refuses to do anything about these issues when they are reported.” The U.S. Department of Education’s Of- fice of Civil Rights has thousands of active investigations across the country. It is investigating other North Texas school districts as well, including Carroll ISD, Prosper ISD and Irving ISD. Arguably the highest-profile of these is Carroll ISD, which is facing eight investigations related to al- leged discrimination on the basis of disability, race, sexual orientation and gender identity. ▼ CRIME THE LIVES LOST IN ALLEN MORE DETAILS ON ALLEN MASS SHOOTING VICTIMS, SHOOTER EMERGE. BY KELLY DEARMORE M ore than three weeks removed from the mass shooting in Allen, reports continue to appear that shed more light on the lives lost at the Allen Premium Outlets. Eight people were murdered and several more injured when 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia fired an assault rifle at shoppers walking outside the mall’s stores. Further details on Garcia, who was killed by police at the scene, have also emerged, painting a disturbing image of a man who had likely planned his attack for at least a few weeks. Five of the eight deaths in Allen involved two families, a sad fact that has resulted in a wave of sympathy and online fundraising from across the country. The Cho family was ripped apart when Kyu Cho, wife Cindy and their 3-year-old son James were killed by Garcia. The Chos’ other son, 6-year-old William, was injured but survived. The owner of Eddie’s Diner in Plano, a regular stop for the Chos, posted her memo- ries of the young family a few days after the shooting. In her note she mentioned the fam- ily had dined there on the morning of May 6. “The Cho family stood out for many rea- sons. They were always patient with our weekend waits and always kept the boys calm,” the diner’s Facebook post noted. “They were kind to our staff and ensured the boys used their manners. They were a great team and were equally devoted to tak- ing care of their boys. Kyu was patient with William and always helped with the color- ing activities, while Cindy helped James navigate his breakfast like a pro.” A recent report from NBC 5 also de- scribes the husband and wife as an ideal set of loving, compatible teammates. “Even though Cindy was definitely a little bit more on the introverted side and Kyu was more extroverted, they kind of had this bal- ance where it was like this perfect synergy of that energy,” a family friend told NBC 5. Sisters Daniela, 11, and Sofia Mendoza, 8, were also killed in Allen shooting. Their mother, Ilda, was seriously injured and contin- ues to recover after spending time in the ICU. A report in The Dallas Morning News de- scribed Daniela as an ambitious sort, stating, “She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do when she grew up, but she knew she was going to be a millionaire. She’d figure out the details later.” The profile also described Sofia as ambitious, although her goals might’ve been more clear. “She was going to go to Brown University and then win an Oscar. Or maybe a Pulitzer Prize, once she figured out what exactly that was. She was going to live in Hollywood, of course, and own a library, too.” Last week, CBS reported that Allen resi- dent Irvin Walker, one of the people Garcia shot and injured, was released from Medical City McKinney on Monday, noting, “Walker underwent two major surgeries and has a long road to recovery, according to a spokes- person. He was looking for a parking space at the mall when the gunmen shot into his car, striking Walker three times.” The CBS report also said there were still “four shooting victims under the care of Medical City Healthcare hospitals. All four are in good condition, as of last update.” GoFundMe campaigns for William Cho, the Mendozas and Walker have each ex- ceeded their goals, with the Cho family’s to- tal donations nearing $1.9 million. The Dallas Morning News provided a de- tailed look into the evidence that led law en- forcement to say that Garcia had “neo-Nazi ideation.” According to the report, while some neighbors described Garcia as “very friendly,” accounts from people who attended Bryan Adams High School in Dallas with Garcia sug- gest what he did isn’t that shocking. One former classmate told the Morning News, “I didn’t really think he ever really had that in him, but if he did do something like that, then it would kind of make sense.” In social media posts reviewed by the newspaper, Garcia seemed to foretell the massacre, although he didn’t leave a specific manifesto or written plan. Along with what the report referred to as “praise” for the April school shooting in Nashville, where six people were murdered, Garcia touted white supremacy, his appreciation for Adolph Hitler and his distaste for Jewish people and other minority groups. Perhaps the most chilling part of the report states that Garcia “posted multiple photos of the Allen mall and a screenshot of Google Maps showing the Allen Premium Outlets’ popular times. The app indicated Saturdays right before 3 p.m. are as “‘busy as it gets.’” Garcia opened fire just after 3:30 p.m. May 6. ▼ CITY HALL PRESIDENTIAL HOUSING WHITE HOUSE PARTNERSHIP COULD SPEED UP DALLAS HOMELESS RESPONSE BY JACOB VAUGHN D allas recently announced a new part- nership with the White House, the U.S. Interagency Council on Home- lessness and Housing Forward to boost local efforts to house the homeless. The two-year partnership is being called All INside, part of a larger effort called All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. It was an- nounced at a virtual event organized by the White House. The goal of All In is to re- duce homelessness by 25% by 2025. Lo- cally, Dallas’ Office of Homeless Solutions and Housing Forward will work with the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and 19 other federal agencies for two years to help get people off the streets and into housing faster. “We welcome this partnership with the federal government and will leverage it as another tool to encourage healthier and safer communities in Dallas,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said in a statement. The hope is that the partnership will speed up local efforts and make changes to the local homeless response system to help reduce the unsheltered homeless popula- tion. It should also help find opportunities to relax some regulations that may slow down the local homeless response system. Susan Rice, President Joe Biden’s domes- tic policy advisor, said at the virtual event, “Our nation’s homelessness challenge at its roots comes down to an inadequate supply of housing, but it also intersects mental and behavioral health, substance use and so many other key issues.” Last year, there were more than 580,000 homeless people in the U.S. Four out of ev- ery 10 of them were unsheltered. Every year, Dallas and Collin counties conduct a census of the local homeless pop- ulation. The 2023 count found 4,244 home- less people across the two counties. a slight decrease from the previous year’s count of 4,410. Black people are disproportionately represented among the homeless. They make up 24% of the general population but 60% of the homeless population across the two counties, according to the count. The census also found a 32% reduction in chronic homelessness and a 14% reduction in unsheltered homelessness. “People are living on the streets not by choice, but despite trying to remain housed, and for various reasons they could not,” Rice said. “President Biden firmly believes that everyone deserves a safe, decent and afford- able place to live.” Stewart F. House/Getty Images More details and memories of the victims of the deadly mass shooting in Allen continue to emerge. Unfair Park from p6
