The online fundraising website GoFundMe has shut down a campaign to help parents in a Virginia school district who have been targeted by a coalition of teachers and officials for objecting to lessons on critical race theory.
A Daily Wire investigation found 624 members of a group called Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County used Facebook to counter opponents of the controversial teaching. Critical race theory, according to one definition, proposes that white people create differences between races to “maintain elite white interests.”
The coalition, the Daily Wire said, “compiled a lengthy list of parents suspected of disagreeing with school system actions, including its teaching of controversial racial concepts – with a stated purpose in part to ‘infiltrate,’ use ‘hackers’ to silence parents’ communications, and ‘expose these people publicly.'” The Daily Wire reported the sheriff’s criminal investigations division is reviewing the matter.
Now the Washington Free Beacon reports GoFundMe has shut down the fundraising page without specifying
which term of service it violated.
Like other online platforms, GoFundMe can remove any user posts that it deems “in its sole discretion to be unacceptable,” according to its user guidelines. GoFundMe did not respond to the Free Beacon’s request for comment.
The fundraiser was started by Scott Mineo, who is also the head of an organized group of parents called Parents Against Critical Theory, or PACT.
Mineo created the GoFundMe after he and other members of PACT began facing intimidation tactics from the school board members and others.
Loudoun County School Board Equity Committee member Charlotte McConnell called on fellow members to report the fundraiser after it had raised more than $4,000.
On March 25, Mineo was informed by GoFundMe that his page had been shut down due to prohibited conduct.” But GoFundMe declined to provide any evidence that any rules were violated.
The Daily Wire reported the county’s prosecutor appears to be a member of the Facebook club set up to attack parents, and participants in the campaign include a school board member, Beth Barts, 50.
She wrote to the Facebook group March 12 that she hoped to “call out statements and actions that undermine our stated plan to end systemic racism.”
Another parent, Jen Durham, proposed spreading “information (expose these people publicly, create online petitions, create counter-mailings)” and generating donations for the cause.
Durham wrote on Facebook: “I’m losing any hope that remaining civil towards these people changes anything. Avoiding these people isn’t enough to stop the spread of their evil rhetoric.”
Her request resulted in members of the Facebook group contributing names, home addresses, employers and spouse’s names for dozens of parents.
Former teacher Hilary Hultman-Lee said “we’d like to compile a document of all known actors and supporters.”
“Please comment below with legal names of these individuals, area of residence and or school board Rep known, known accounts on social media, and any other info that you feel is relevant,” she wrote.
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