The Viking spoke with Director of PR Carl Kemp over the phone around 11 p.m. on Friday, regarding his response to why the flag was being flown at half-staff.
Kemp misheard the reporter’s number and sent a message to an incorrect number at 2:22 p.m. that said, “Per Dr. Munoz, the statement that was emailed yesterday is the District’s official statement in response to your flag inquiry.”
In the call, Kemp once again declined to say if the flag was being flown in remembrance of controversial conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, when directly asked.
“Well I wanted to make sure what was said was the official representation from the college and for that I needed to make sure I spoke to the President, who is our official spokesperson, so that is why I wanted to be very thoughtful and being aware and sensitive to, you know, all that comes with that question so I wanted to make sure that you knew that the official statement from the college was the one that was given by Dr. Munoz yesterday,” Kemp said.
He continued to point The Viking to a statement made on Thursday, on behalf of Mike Munoz and the Long Beach City College District.
The original statement said, “As we have done for the past 24 years, Long Beach City College flew the U.S. flag at half-staff today as part of Patriot Day, where we honor the nearly 3,000 lives lost on September 11, 2001, and the first responders who acted so heroically. We also acknowledge the horrific acts that occurred at Utah Valley University and Evergreen High School in Colorado, and decry all acts of gun violence.”
Kirk died on Tuesday, after being shot at an event at Utah Valley University.
