Laura Carleton shooting – latest: Mag.Pi store owner in Lake Arrowhead killed over Pride flag

Friends say this happened multiple times in the two years since she opened the California store as a second outpost to her first location in Studio City.

And, throughout it all, the 66-year-old mother-of-nine remained defiant as a prominent ally to the LGBT+ community.

This weekend, it happened once again.

Except this time, the flag removal ended with her murder – with the perpetrator shooting her in cold blood in the street.

Ari and Kelsey Carleton, two of the shop owner’s nine children, wrote on Instagram that their “beautiful mommy” had been taken in a “senseless act of violence”.

“She was murdered over a pride flag that she proudly hung on her storefront. Make no mistake, this was a hate crime,” the daughters wrote.

“Our family is broken. We have a long road ahead of us as we navigate this new reality without our loving matriarch.”

Carleton opened her first Mag.Pi clothing store in Studio City, Los Angeles, in 2013, selling ethically sourced clothing including some of Carleton’s designs.

Ari and Kelsey Carleton said that in the two years since her mother opened her second Cedar Glen, vandals had on several occasions ripped down Pride flags hanging outside.

Each time, her mother would replace them with bigger ones, they said.

Skylar Baker-Jordan writes for Independent Voices: “It was only a matter of time.”

That was my first thought upon hearing of the callous and hateful murder of Laura Carleton, the owner of Mag Pi Clothing in Cedar Glen, California. A straight woman, Carleton was fatally shot by a man who confronted her over an LGBTQ+ Pride flag which was displayed at her shop. Her assailant was later killed by police.

This was not the first time someone had taken issue with Carleton’s Pride flag. As The Independent has previously reported, friends of Carleton say that the flag has been ripped down multiple times. Every time, she simply replaced the flag with another, refusing to cave in to the hateful bigots who vandalized her shop.

The inevitability of something like this happening was apparent to anyone paying attention. 

Ghostbusters director Paul Feig has lead tributes to slain California store owner Laura ‘Lauri’ Carleton.

In a moving social media post, Mr Feig wrote that his “wonderful friend” had been murdered by a 27-year-old man simply for flying an LGBTQ+ flag from her Mag.Pi store in Lake Arrowhead.

“He ripped it down and when she confronted him about it he shot and killed her,” Mr Feig wrote on Instagram.

“Her alleged murderer was later shot and killed by the San Bernardino police and so no longer poses a threat to the community. But this intolerance has to end. Anyone using hateful language against the LGBTQ+ community has to realize their words matter, that their words can inspire violence against innocent loving people.”

Mr Feig’s posts received messages of support from Charlize Theron and Mark Hamill.

Grieving residents of Lake Arrowhead, California, have donated $1800 to a local LGBTQ+ charity to honour slain shop owner Laura Carleton.

Carleton, 66, was shot dead outside her Mag.PI store on Friday during an argument over a Pride flag, authorities say.

The Lakehouse Collection, a local home furnishings store, said in an Instagram post on Sunday it had received $1800 in donations from mourners which would be passed on to the Lake Arrowhead LGBTQ+ charity.

“She would be humbled by the Love for her this community has shown. Lauri we Love you…. You will not be forgotten,” the store wrote.

It said a candlelit vigil would be held at Mag.Pi on Tuesday, once Tropical Storm Hilary had passed.

Friends say this happened multiple times in the two years since she opened the California store as a second outpost to her first location in Studio City.

And, throughout it all, the 66-year-old mother-of-nine remained defiant as a prominent ally to the LGBT+ community.

This weekend, it happened once again.

Except this time, the flag removal ended with her murder – with the perpetrator shooting her in cold blood in the street.

Californian Democratic House candidate Derek Marshall has paid tribute to slain shop owner Laura ‘Lauri’ Carleton as a fierce LGBTQ+ ally.

Mr Marshall, who is running for California’s 23rd district, wrote that he had been a guest on Carleton’s boat for Lake Arrowhead’s Pride Boat Parade in June.

He described her as “witty, funny” and someone who had “that special energy that can move mountains”.

“A while back, we discussed the the blowback she received for flying the pride flag. She was committed to visibility as a part of changing the narrative around LGBTQIA+ rights and acceptance. She will be sorely missed, but certainly not forgotten.”

A California clothing store owner who was shot dead during an argument over a Pride flag was described as “fearless, cool and compassionate” in a moving tribute by two of her daughters.

Ari and Kelsey Carleton, two of the shop owner’s nine children, wrote on Instagram that their “beautiful mommy” had been taken in a “senseless act of violence”.

“She was murdered over a pride flag that she proudly hung on her storefront. Make no mistake, this was a hate crime,” the daughters wrote.

“Our family is broken. We have a long road ahead of us as we navigate this new reality without our loving matriarch.”

Carleton opened her first Mag.Pi clothing store in Studio City, Los Angeles, in 2013, selling ethically sourced clothing including some of Carleton’s designs.

Ari and Kelsey Carleton said that in the two years since her mother opened her second Cedar Glen, vandals had on several occasions ripped down Pride flags hanging outside.

Each time, her mother would replace them with bigger ones, they said.

Grieving residents of Lake Arrowhead, California, have donated $1800 to a local LGBTQ+ charity to honour slain shop owner Laura Carleton.

Carleton, 66, was shot dead outside her Mag.PI store on Friday during an argument over a Pride flag, authorities say.

The Lakehouse Collection, a local home furnishings store, said in an Instagram post on Sunday it had received $1800 in donations from mourners which would be passed on to the Lake Arrowhead LGBTQ+ charity.

“She would be humbled by the Love for her this community has shown. Lauri we Love you…. You will not be forgotten,” the store wrote.

It said a candlelit vigil would be held at Mag.Pi on Tuesday, once Tropical Storm Hilary had passed.

Diane Anderson-Minshall, author and editor-in-chief of Go Magazine, called on the “rational world” to view the “extreme right hysteria” against the LGBTQ+ community following the death of Laura Carleton, who was a cisgender ally.

“Yesterday, I read the headline, ‘shop owner killed over rainbow flag’ and shook my head. Today, I realized that it was Laura, who I knew back when she was with Calvin Klein, and it was in liberal California,” she wrote on Facebook.

“The world of LGBTQ people and our allies sometimes feels very small in that at least for me we often know each other in some capacity. Laura, like all victims, should not just be another headline we ignore.

“The fact that even presumably straight cisgender allies are killed for supporting LGBTQ people and cisgender people are being killed as they’ve been mistaken as being trans, I have to hope that the rational world begins to see this eradication campaign and extreme right hysteria for what it is before it’s too late.”