Glendora Player Suspended After Incident With Skinhead

Brandon Lee, a starting forward on the undefeated Glendora High boys’ basketball team, was suspended from school Tuesday for fighting with an alleged skinhead who was distributing literature on campus for a white supremacist organization.

Lee, a 6-foot-6 senior center who is averaging 18 points and eight rebounds, did not play in Wednesday night’s 75-37 victory over La Verne Damien because he was serving the suspension.

He will be eligible to return for Friday night’s home game against Etiwanda. School policy calls for an automatic two-day suspension for any student involved in a fight.

Glendora Principal Clay Hess did not return phone calls Wednesday, and Coach Mike LeDuc said that he could not comment because of school privacy rules relative to students.

Lee, when reached by The Times, said some skinheads passed out literature on campus Friday, and one of them returned Tuesday. On Tuesday, according to Lee, the unidentified skinhead, who is not a student at Glendora, directed a racial slur at him. Lee said he responded by throwing the first punch.

According to Lee, two other students were suspended, but they have not been identified.

“I feel that (the suspension) was unfair,” Lee said. “They told me that I was the ringleader, and that’s why I was suspended. They said I almost caused a riot because he started to run off campus and a few people chased him. . . . So, I was held accountable for them not being in class.”

Glendora, which has an enrollment of 1,750, has a predominantly white student body, and Lee is one of only two black players on the varsity.

Glendora, ranked No. 4 in The Times’ Southern Section poll, has a 16-0 record. The Tartans won the Division 4-AA title in 1990.