A 26-year-old Garden Grove man is facing criminal threats charges after Long Beach police say he posted violent, anti-LGBTQ messages online targeting the city's Big Gay Floatilla, an annual beach gathering for the queer community. Richard Alexis Castillo was taken into custody on Thursday, August 6, and booked with bail set at $50,000, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
The threats surfaced under a social media post promoting the event, and detectives began investigating them on Monday, August 3, according to MyNewsLA.com, which reported that officers spent three days tracking the posts before identifying Castillo as the suspect. Organizer Salvador Flores reported the threat to police, according to NBC Los Angeles. Flores, who co-founded the event's production company, said the community needs a space where members feel safe and comfortable being themselves, per the outlet's reporting.
The comments included explicit references to a .357 caliber handgun that could allegedly “take a head clean off,” along with posts calling to “bomb the area” and threatening to “blow datt ho up,” amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ slurs, according to a thread on LGBTnews. Separately, NBC Los Angeles reported that the threatening posts mentioned going to the event and bringing projectiles capable of causing serious harm, with one message stating the projectiles could “take a head off clean.” Castillo was arrested on suspicion of criminal threats, according to police cited by NBC Los Angeles.
A Beach Tradition Moves — For Logistics, Not Fear
The Big Gay Floatilla has been held before, giving queer community members a recurring meetup to swim, lounge, and enjoy coastal festivities, per NBC Los Angeles. This marked the first time organizers received concerning threats tied to the event, the outlet reported. Saturday's gathering, however, was relocated away from its traditional home at Horny Corner in Belmont Shore, moving down the Peninsula to 72nd Place because of a scheduling conflict with a large water polo tournament happening the same day, according to LBC Vibe, which noted the move was about logistics rather than safety concerns.
Horny Corner, along Bayshore Avenue, has served as a recognized informal gathering spot and beach takeover location for Long Beach's queer community for decades, according to Visit Gay Long Beach. The Big Gay Floatilla is produced by Playa Larga, a Long Beach-based events company co-founded by Flores and Dan O'Brien that organizes public-space cultural gatherings meant to expand LGBTQ+ community connection beyond bars and nightlife, according to Longbeachize.
Long Beach Resident Reacts, Police Add Patrols
Sierra Smith, who lives in the Long Beach community, said the threats were sad, especially happening in Long Beach, according to NBC Los Angeles. Long Beach police responded to the reported threat and said they will have extra patrols at Saturday's event, ramping up security as a result of the criminal threats, the outlet reported.
Long Beach has maintained one of Southern California's largest LGBTQ+ populations since the 1980s, when queer residents settled heavily along the city's historic Broadway Corridor, according to PBS SoCal. The city's LGBTQ+ organizations have also faced prior incidents of bias-motivated hostility, including anti-LGBTQ messages and vandalism targeting Long Beach Pride's headquarters, per GED Magazine. That history adds weight to the timing of this incident, which arrives just weeks after Hoodline reported on internal turmoil at the city's LGBTQ center.
What Castillo Could Face Under California Law
Criminal threats under California Penal Code Section 422 is classified as a wobbler offense, meaning prosecutors can charge it as either a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in county jail or a felony carrying up to four years in state prison, according to the Kraut Law Group. Prosecutors do not need to prove Castillo intended to actually carry out any threat; the law only requires that a statement be unequivocal, immediate, and specific enough to cause a reasonable victim sustained fear, according to Kolacia Law.
The case also lands amid a broader statewide trend. Hate crime incidents targeting gender identity across California rose 23% in 2025, even as overall reported crime dropped across most major categories, according to KQED, citing state Department of Justice data. For a community that has long treated its beach gatherings as safe havens, the arrest offers some reassurance heading into Saturday's event, even as organizers and police alike stress that vigilance remains part of the plan.
