Lawsuit Alleges Military Officer Sic’d Police on Mom Who Complained About LGBT Posters at Daughter’s School
Angela Reading was contacted by police after a U.S. Reserve Maj. complained about her on Facebook
A mother is suing local law enforcement and the military after she was intimidated into deleting a Facebook post drawing attention to student-made posters celebrating “polysexuality” on display at her daughter’s elementary school.
The lawsuit alleges that Angela Reading experienced "outright censorship of her speech followed by a dedicated smear campaign begun by a military officer, U.S. Army Reserve Major Christopher Schilling.” Reading is being represented by attorneys at the Thomas More Society.
“The current situation involving Ms. Reading’s actions has caused safety concerns for many families,” Lt. Col. Christopher Schilling reportedly wrote on his personal Facebook page in December last year, as we reported at the time. “The Joint Base leadership takes this situation very seriously and from the beginning have had the Security Forces working with multiple state and local law enforcement agencies to monitor the situation to ensure the continued safety of the entire community.”
Subsequently, as the suit alleges, "the police chief of North Hanover Township, acting in concert with military personnel from the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst," coerced Reading to remove her post from Facebook.
The complaint accuses defendants North Hanover Township, Police Chief Robert Duff, multiple officers at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and then-North Hanover School Superintendent Helen Payne, of portraying the mother as a “security threat” who was targeted by law enforcement as a means of silencing her views.
"The civil rights lawsuit I have filed is a critical step towards seeking justice for the irreversible damage inflicted upon my personal life, professional reputation, and capacity to meaningfully contribute and serve my community," Reading, herself a school board member and third-year law student, told The Blaze.
"As this case progresses, I hope it illuminates the pervasive issue of government censorship and the retaliation against parents who strive to safeguard their children's well-being while at school."
Elementary school children have absolutely no need to know anything about "polysexuality!!!!!!!!!!" Absolutely reprehensible to have "education" like this in any school. A complete and utterly debased waste of time. Why not teach them American Sign Language instead? What if we were all able to sign competently by high school graduation? That would be a bigger step towards "inclusiveness"
I have appreciated your commitment to getting stories to the world for quite a long time now, but I'm confused about your reporting on this one. For example: Is Ms. Reading a military wife? Is the school on base? If the reserve officer is simply another parent at a regular school, why is "the military" involved? How many "other officers" are involved, and what is their involvement? As a military wife of 30 years, much more information should be included for clear and concise reporting on a situation. I am absolutely for keeping all this vulgarity out of schools, especially grade schools with our innocent children. However, I am having difficulty with your big title connection with "the military", when it seems to only concern one individual officer (a reserve officer, at that).