A teenager who has been the target of anti-LGBTQ bullying finally spoke out after one of his many harassers came to his house in the middle of the night.
Landon Jones, an 18-year-old TikToker who goes to a high school in Lake Forest, California, shared two disturbing clips in a video–the first of which showed Jones and his sister in their car surrounded by a group of young men after being followed into a Starbucks.
The men began yelling bigoted slurs and threats as they tried to prevent Jones and his sister from leaving the parking lot.
One of the men can be heard saying:
“This f'king fa***t."
The second clip in the video post was taken from the Jones family's surveillance camera.
A young man was seen approaching the door to the residence around 10:30 p.m. and asking Jones' father:
"Does Landon live here?"
When the father responded affirmatively and asked, "why?" the young man explained, “Someone said to come up here," before running off and shouting:
"Because he’s a fa***t!”
Warning: NSFW lanugage.
Jones recounted the disturbing incident that took place right outside his front door with NBC News, saying:
“I remember being up in my room, hearing it, and I heard what he said. I immediately jumped out of bed and walked outside to see what was happening.”
“I had no sleep that night. I was honestly really upset. I was crying.”
That's when he decided to share the two clips with his TikTok 700,000 followers.
“I’m sick of being silent about it,” Jones told the news station, adding, “So I finally spoke up.”
In the TikTok clip, the teen said he was constantly called homophobic slurs at school but that it didn't really bother him until the incident that took place at his home.
He said it went too far and that what the young man did constituted a hate crime.
He said at the end of the clip:
"There will be consequences for these people, we know who they are. This is not happening anymore."
Jones confirmed both of the men seen in the Starbucks clip were from his high school, El Toro High School in Lake Forest, which is part of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.
Jones was informed that the young man seen approaching his front door in the second clip was from another nearby high school but didn't know which one.
An Orange County sheriff’s spokesperson said an investigation was underway regarding the unidentified individual.
TikTokers meanwhile offered plenty of love and support for Jones.
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A spokesperson for the school district told the news station that "the unconscionable acts committed against Landon Jones do not reflect the feelings or values of Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) and El Toro High School (ETHS).”
Wendie Hauschild, the school district’s director of communications and administrative services wrote an email stating:
“ETHS and SVUSD administration, together with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD), immediately launched a comprehensive investigation to uncover the facts of the incidents."
“We can confirm that the person seen in the surveillance video of the incident that took place at a private home is not a student in SVUSD."
"Due to the confidentiality that we are required by law to uphold for our students, as well as other minors, SVUSD is unable to share further information regarding the results of the investigation."
"SVUSD remains steadfast in its commitment to create inclusive, supportive, and safe environments for all students on our campuses.”
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Due to the constant bullying at El Toro High School, Jones has transitioned to virtual schooling.
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