A New Jersey mom is suing military officials who deemed her social media post voicing concern over an elementary school’s “polysexual” posters, a “security threat.”
In November, Angela Reading posted on Facebook complaining about “polysexual” posters that had been displayed in her daughter’s elementary school, which led to Lt. Col. Christopher Schilling, a chief commander at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, allegedly deeming her a “security concern,” alerting local police to “monitor the situation,” according to the lawsuit.
The Thomas More Society filed the Wednesday lawsuit on behalf of Reading against Schilling, alleging that the police and military officials retaliated against Reading, pressuring her to remove the post.
“When [Reading] expressed her natural parental concern by means of a simple Facebook post about the sexual nature of content on display in an elementary school, Defendants commenced a far-reaching campaign of retaliation against her, enlisting the aid of local, state and federal government agencies,” the lawsuit alleged.
In November, Reading’s 7-year-old daughter asked what “polysexual” meant after attending an elementary school math night, the lawsuit alleged. Schilling allegedly called for an ethics complaint into Reading, who at the time was serving as a member of the Northern Burlington Board of Education, saying she was “stirring up right-wing extremists.”
In an email to parents and school faculty, Schilling allegedly advised them to “keep the pressure” on Reading and asked them to collect “evidence” on her, the lawsuit stated. Using his personal email, Schilling allegedly told the parties that he was “working with the base leadership” who “support” the efforts against Reading.
“The steps taken by Defendants against Mrs. Reading lacked any legitimate purpose,” the lawsuit alleged. “In fact, Defendants continued their actions apace even after they learned of the growing danger to Mrs. Reading that caused her to fear for the physical safety of herself and her family due to the community outrage the Defendants had incited.”
The Thomas More Society and the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
By Reagan Reese, The Daily Caller News Foundation
Concerned New Jersey Mom Sues After Being Deemed “Threat” Following FB Post About Offensive School Signs (Thomas More Society, 16 MAR 23)
. . . .What Reading received (after writing the social media post) was outright censorship of her speech followed by a dedicated smear campaign begun by a military officer, U.S. Army Reserve Major Christopher Schilling, who emailed parents and school officials condemning her and her actions.
Schilling, using his official military email account, then involved Joseph Vasquez, a U.S. Air Force civilian employee, who forwarded Reading’s post and Schilling’s claims to the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and the New Jersey State Police in what Vasquez admitted were “hopes of getting an Incident Detection and Response sent to schools and police departments” – meaning there would be a widespread law enforcement “threat” alert regarding Reading based solely on her clearly protected speech. . . . . (read the article)
—
Complaint (pdf)
ANGELA READING, Plaintiff,
v.
NORTH HANOVER TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY;
ROBERT DUFF, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Chief of Police for North Hanover Township;
HELEN PAYNE, in her individual capacity;
COLONEL WES ADAMS, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Commander, Joint Base McGuire-DixLakehurst (JB MDL) and 87th Air Base Wing, JB MDL, New Jersey;
COLONEL ROBERT GRIMMETT, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Commander of the 87th Mission Support Group of the U.S. Air Force;
MEGAN HALL, in her individual capacity and in her official capacity as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force and Deputy Commander of the 87th Security Forces Squadron;
NATHANIEL LESHER, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as a Major in the U.S. Air Force;
CHRISTOPHER SCHILLING, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as a Major in the U.S. Army Reserve; and
JOSEPH VAZQUEZ, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity a Civilian U.S. Department of the Air Force Employee, and
COLONEL MITCHELL WISNIEWSKI, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Deputy Commander, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and Commander, Army Support Activity;
Leave a Comment