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Virginia mom describes ‘violent’ reaction to school curriculum criticism: ‘They wanted to curb stomp me’

May 13, 2023 | | Print Article

Loudoun County, Virginia, parents are being targeted on Facebook for speaking out against the school district’s woke LGBTQ agenda according to one mom who says the “Loudoun Love Warriors” want to “curb stomp” her.

Elicia Brand is the co-founder, CEO, and President of Army of Parents, a 510(c)(4) organization comprised of “parents, citizens, and community leaders from across the country” who are dedicated to ensuring children receive a “world-class education in Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Science, History and the Arts —free of indoctrination, political ideologies and agendas,” according to its website.

Her group, Brand told “Fox & Friends” on Friday, has made progressive activists “very angry” to the point that they’ve received “threats of death.”

(Video: Fox News)

“They said that they wanted to curb stomp me,” she said. “I’m not sure if your audience is aware of the violent nature of curb stomping, but what it does entail is grabbing somebody by the back of the head, forcing their mouth open, pushing them down to the ground with their face on the cement, their mouth around the curb, and then somebody else stomping on the back of their head.”

“This is murder, it’s a felony,” she stated, “and this is what I was threatened with by these activists who are tied to our political candidates.”

Fox News Digital reports that the group “includes members who appear to be associated with Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj, County Supervisor Juli Briskman, School Board Chair Ian Serotkin, school board member Brenda Sheridan, school board member Atoosa Reaser, school board member Erika Ogedegbe, school board candidate Anne Donohue, sheriff candidate Craig Buckley, and Chair Phyllis Randall.”

“None of these elected officials personally made any threats,” the outlet stresses.

Perhaps not, but other members of the group most certainly did.

“I am so ready to show up with guns lol,” one member posted.

“Lives need to be ruined beyond repair,” read another post.

A third urged fellow members, “Let’s actually destroy them. Grind them.”

And Brand wasn’t the only target.

After Loudoun County resident Mark Winn spoke at a school board meeting in December 2022, he learned of messages on the Love Warriors’ page in which one of Biberaj’s staffers allegedly threatened both his life and his livelihood.

According to WJLA, comments included:

  • “Mark Winn. I’m gonna find his employer.”
  • “And holding that company accountable until he is fired.”
  • “Lets make him unemployable by love or by force.”
  • “Wish I had footage of every person who clapped for him and give them the same ousting that Winn is about to.”
  • “I want to contact his employer to do just that. Ruin his livelihood.”
  • “Say goodbye to your job f***** [middle finger emoji].”
  • “I want every single person who clapped for that ousted en masse and their livelihoods ruined:).”

 

The threats came as Winn’s wife was battling Stage 4 cancer — all reportedly because he quoted a verse from the Bible.

“It shocked me,” Winn told WJLA.

Another parent, Scott Mineo, told the station that, after one member of the group, Heather Gottlieb, emailed his employer following his comments to the board, he was fired.

“They went after my job,” Mineo said. “That happened in early February. They referred me to the FBI, IRS, and DHS all because they don’t like my opinion.”

“They’re probably going to sit back and celebrate the fact that I’m unemployed,” he added. “I’m having a hard time finding a job. And who knows what’s next with the IRS and the FBI? I don’t know. But they’ve done more than just put me out of a job. It’s impacting my family, my kids.”

https://twitter.com/Moms4LibLoudoun/status/1657392039665737729?s=20

As a result of the threats, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation into the group on Wednesday and Virginia’s “Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is asking Loudoun County elected officials to disavow the violent threats made in the group,” WJLA reports.

“My reaction to the what are they calling themselves ‘the Love Warriors Group’ — there’s nothing but hate in that group,” Earle-Sears told the outlet. “From what I’m understanding, if the reports are true, and I don’t react to it as lieutenant governor, I react to it as a normal, sane human being, when you hear what this group is trying to do, they’re trying to destroy lives. They’re going to make sure you definitely have loss of employment, you will possibly lose your life because they’re talking about [disassembling] you, and they’re also possibly going to shoot you.”

“Now remember, this is the kind of group that says they’re against guns, except I guess when they’re the ones with the guns,” she continued. “So, folks, we’ve got to get a grip. We’re destroying America from the inside. This is what our enemies do to us. This is not we what we do to ourselves.”

“What we want is an investigation by [Republican Ohio Rep.] Jim Jordan’s team,” Brand told “Fox & Friends.”

“I have spoken with them. We have [Reps.] Chip Roy [R-Texas]  and Bob Good [R-Va.] who have written to our school board,” she added.

In addition to wanting to see those who made the threats held accountable, Brand called for legislation “that protects parents” who publicly advocate for their children.

“They have the right to be protected in the same way that Merrick Garland says that public servants have a right to be protected,” she said.

“This is a First Amendment right,” Brand noted. “And this is where we are supposed to speak out to our school board.”

Meanwhile, Biberaj has condemned the “violent language” posted on the “Love Warriors” Facebook page.

“Violent threats are never acceptable and at times can be criminal,” Biberaj said in a statement. “I personally condemn all violent language and my office will be investigating whether a crime was committed. Due to the possibility of a criminal investigation, I can not comment further at this time.”

Melissa Fine
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