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A high-ranking US military officer is facing backlash for calling the cops on a mom who complained about sexual preference posters at her daughter’s school.
Telling her story on Tucker Carlson Tonight, New Jersey mother Angela Reading revealed she was told she was being ‘monitored’ by local law enforcement, after airing concerns about posters hanging at the entrance of her seven-year-old’s school in North Hanover Township.
Reportedly part of an assignment to create a ‘safe space’ for students, the colorful art installations contain language that tout different sorts of sexuality, including the virtues of being both ‘poly-‘ and ‘pansexual’ – all scrawled in children’s handwriting.
In her post, published November 22, Reading alerted other parents of the posters’ contents, which ultimately garnered the unforeseen response from local law enforcement.
Speaking on national television Thursday, Reading revealed cops became privy to her since-deleted Facebook post after being tipped of by a lieutenant colonel at nearby military base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, who took issue with the post.
The story has since generated pronounced public outcry, with parents now demanding decorated Lt. Col. Christopher Schilling hand in his resignation.
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Telling her story on Tucker Carlson Tonight, New Jersey mother Angela Reading revealed how she was told she was being ‘monitored’ by local law enforcement, after airing concerns about posters hanging at the entrance of her seven-year-old’s school in North Hanover Township
Reading, meanwhile, in her post argued the unspecified elementary school’s hallway display was ‘perverse,’ saying ‘it should be illegal to expose my kids to sexual content.’
Photos show some of the contentious phrases and drawings penned by kids to make students ‘feel good and accepted’ – including the message ‘don’t be afraid of who you are,’ and flags associated with sexual orientations and ideologies such as ‘gender queer,’ ‘nonbinary,’ ‘agender,’ ‘transgender,’ and ‘pansexual.’
Reading revealed to Carlson Wednesday how after publishing her post, she came under fire from Schilling, who took to his own Facebook to claim there were ‘security concerns’ with Reading’s post, hence why he called on police.
The military official – a senior staffer at the New Jersey military base – said that staffers were working with local police to ‘monitor the situation’ while ensuring ‘the continued safety of the entire community.’
Reading said she was left dumbstruck by Schilling’s declaration, after learning of the supposed probe online.
‘I was more than surprised, I was scared,’ recalled Reading, who did not provide the name of the school nor her daughter, but revealed that she had more than one child enrolled before ultimately deciding to pull them both permanently.
‘I actually pulled my kids from school the day I found out,’ the irate mom told Carlson, 53, in an exclusive interview. Her post garnered the unforeseen response from local law enforcement
Reportedly part of an assignment to create a ‘safe space’ for students, the colorful art installations contain language that tout different sorts of sexuality, including the virtues of being ‘polysexual’ – all scrawled in children’s handwriting
‘I actually pulled my kids from school the day I found out,’ the irate mom told Carlson, 53, in an exclusive interview.
‘It was mind-boggling and I was worried for them,’ she added, questioning why the military would come after her ‘for simply raising concern about a public poster that is widely available for all to see.’
Reading also tore into accusation aired by Schilling in his recent Facebook post, in which he asserted the mom actions ’caused safety concerns for many families.’
Calling her post ‘moderate,’ Reading explained to Carlson how her post – which was saved by several online users prior to its deletion – merely explained that the contents and messages seen on the posters were inappropriate for kids at such a tender age, particularly her seven-year-old daughter.
In her post, published November 22, Reading alerted other parents of the posters’ contents, arguing that the hallway display was ‘perverse,’ and that ‘it should be illegal to expose my kids to sexual content’
Reading revealed to Carlson Wednesday how after publishing her post, she came under fire from Schilling, who took to his own Facebook to claim there were ‘security concerns’ with Reading’s post, hence why he called police
‘It essentially said I didn’t think my seven-year-old was age-appropriate to be exposed to words such as polysexual and pansexual,’ Reading recalled.
‘I said that all people are deserving of love and respect. My post was very explicit about that. Still, it prompted this response and it’s really scary that in this country we can’t have a right to speak and raise concerns about our public education system.’
Reading went on to reveal that she learned of Schilling’s apparent qualms with her post from the administrator of the school Facebook group where she published her complaint, who told her that the chief of the North Hanover Police Department, Robert Duff, reached out urging her to remove it.
The mom recalled the pressure she felt after learning she was under scrutiny by the police force, telling Carlson how she thought to herself ‘I don’t want Homeland Security coming after me. Take the post down. I don’t want to be dealing with this.’
Eventually, she relented – despite the post not containing anything illegal nor anything that went against Facebook’s terms and services.
She told Carlson that she later contacted the police chief and ‘reminded him of the First Amendment,’ before asking aloud why a taxpayer-funded police force is using its budget to follow a baseless probe stemming from a harmless social media post.
‘We shouldn’t be utilizing government resources and our positions to pressure individuals to take down Facebook posts,’ she told Carlson, after revealing a local police chief demanded she delete the post – to which she reluctantly complied
‘We shouldn’t be utilizing government resources and our positions to pressure individuals to take down Facebook posts,’ she told Carlson.
‘I also shared with him the post that he’d already seen,’ she added. ‘There was nothing wrong. It didn’t violate any law, it didn’t violate any Facebook rule whatsoever.’
Upon hearing the mother’s story, Carlson seemed to agree, declaring: ‘The purpose of the military is to defend us against foreign enemies, not to police Facebook posts.’
He added that he hopes Schilling is ‘removed from his command tonight,’ saying the same for Police Chief Duff.
The Joint Base, meanwhile, confirmed Thursday that it notified law enforcement about Reading’s post, calling it ‘common information-sharing practice among law enforcement entities.’
Reading’s children are now enrolled in a new school.
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