William S. Hart Union High School District sent an email to parents regarding a social media post by a former Saugus High School volunteer football coach, in which “target practice” was mentioned in reference to the Santa Clarita protest Thursday.

Saugus resident Tony Moore, owner of Moore Painting and Coatings in Santa Clarita, was replying to a post about the planned protests. In it, Moore said, “If the protesters get stupid and violent, that we should give them a place to congregate as I could use some target practice.”

Many on social media said they were offended by Moore’s reply given that his profile picture included the “Saugus Strong” logo, a rallying cry to honor the victims of the November 2019 Saugus High School shooting in which two students were killed.

Twitter user @lauren_tayler9 commented on Moore’s reply tweeting, “Tony Moore’s profile picture literally talks about ‘Saugus Strong.’ A saying used to bring together a high school community that fell victim to gun violence. Now he’s talking about target practice on protestors…disgusting.”

Another Twitter user and Saugus alumna @ceeduggg said, “We literally had a school shooting at Saugus last year. This is disgusting!!!”

Moore has since deleted his Facebook account. But before doing so, Moore apologized on a follow-up post, saying his words were taken out of context.

“This is was taken out of context and not meant in any way shape or form meant as anything towards our town or peaceful protesters,” Moore said. “A very poor choice of words as well.”

The Hart District issued the following statement:

“The Hart District has been advised that an individual made a comment online yesterday that has caused great concern as it has been construed to threaten protestors surrounding planned events in our Santa Clarita Valley. The individual has been falsely identified as an employee of the Hart District. The individual named previously volunteered as a walk-on coach, but has not been affiliated with the District for some time. Nevertheless the Hart District strongly condemns any threats of violence, especially given the tragic events of November 2019 at Saugus High School. Because safety remains our top priority, we have contacted law enforcement.”