Racism Incident Won’t Shut Gates : Simi Valley: School grounds will stay open after hours despite an alleged assault on a janitor by a man distributing hate literature.

Simi Valley school officials say campuses will continue to be open to the community after hours despite a recent incident involving a man found distributing hate literature at Simi Valley High School during the evening.

Earlier this month, the Glendale man was seen stuffing flyers with a racist message into hundreds of lockers by a custodian, who tried to kick him off campus. The man punched the janitor after he was asked a third time to leave, police said.

School buildings are often used after hours for public meetings, so some gates must be left open, said Assistant Supt. Susan Parks. In addition, the public is allowed to use basketball courts and other outdoor facilities after school, Parks said.

“Until night comes, our schools are basically open to the community,” Parks said.

It isn’t clear why the man chose to distribute the flyers at Simi Valley High School, Parks said. It appears to be an isolated incident, she said.

Police are seeking a warrant to arrest the man on suspicion of misdemeanor assault, Simi Valley Police Lt. Dick Thomas said.

But authorities said they cannot prosecute the man for placing the hate flyers in about 600 lockers because the leaflets are protected by the U.S. Constitution’s right to free speech.

The handouts attacked “race traitors,” who were defined as white people who marry Latinos, blacks and Asians. The leaflets advocated driving minorities from the United States. A phone number with an 818 area code was given to call for more information.

“Passing out hate literature, regardless of how repugnant and disgusting it is, still is not illegal,” Thomas said. “But we recognize this conduct as outrageous.”

The school’s custodian did not know the content of the handouts, which the man was sliding into lockers, when he asked the man to leave. But the custodian knew the man should not be putting anything in the lockers, Thomas said.

After the man refused to leave, the custodian ran to the gym for to seek help removing him, Thomas said. The man followed the custodian into the gym, where he punched him in view of a few coaches and students, Thomas said.

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When officers arrived, the custodian said he was not interested in having the man charged with assault but simply wanted him to leave campus, Thomas said. The janitor changed his mind after seeing the content of the flyers, Thomas said.

School officials removed most of the materials from the lockers before students returned the following day, but some of the flyers made it into students’ hands, Thomas said.

“This is so contrary to what every school stands for and what this community is all about,” Parks said.

Short of locking and chaining school gates, officials can only encourage school employees to be as alert as the custodian was in this case, Parks said.

“This employee should be commended for his vigilance,” Parks said.