Parents in Loudoun County, Virginia, who have spoken out against some school board policies have recently been targeted and allegedly harassed and doxed by a Facebook group that calls itself “The Loudoun Love Warriors” (LLW).
One of these parents, Elicia Brand, said the LLW has ties to Antifa, a far-left extremist group, and that the group created a “book” that shows how it is systematically targeting Loudoun County parents by compiling information about them after they speak out at school board meetings.
“This group actually has a book, a physical book that they created, and that book is called the ‘Chardonnay Antifa’s List of Sketch People.’ And when you open the book, the next page says ‘Problematic Loudoun Republicans and Their Donors, 2022,’” Brand told The Epoch Times.
On another page, someone wrote “Major Players (Racist Bigots & Political Operatives),” followed by a list of 115 people with notes next to each name, she said.
Brand sent The Epoch Times some of the photos of this book.
The LLW group made threatening remarks about Brand during one of its Facebook conversations.
One of the LLW Facebook group members posted, “Please leave me in a room alone with Elicia” and “She is so lucky there are laws because she would be curb stomped.”
“As a Jewish American this threat is especially chilling and traumatizing,” Brand told The Epoch Times. “It’s really scary that they want to hurt people. I mean, we never talk like this.”
Possible Links to School Board
Brand criticized the school board for not doing enough about these types of threats, which she said emboldens groups like LLW. In addition, the Chardonnay Antifa group has been known to allegedly target those who do not agree with progressive views.
ABC 7News first broke the story about the Facebook group on May 9 after a whistleblower sent the station a copy of hundreds of messages and comments posted in the group.
According to the 7News investigation, many of the LLW group members have possible links to Loudoun County elected officials, including Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Bibera; school board Chair Ian Serotkin and school board members Brenda Sheridan, Atoosa Reaser, and Erika Ogedegbe; and Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall and Supervisor Juli Briskman.
Briskman is the cyclist who famously flashed her middle finger at former President Donald Trump’s motorcade in 2017 as the convoy passed her as she rode her bicycle in suburban Virginia.
Although none of the elected officials made any threats directly to parents, The Epoch Times reached out to the above-mentioned Loudoun County officials for comment about what was said in the whistleblower documents.
“As mentioned in the report you cited, I was not part of the incidents being discussed here, which I fully condemn along with any and all threats of violence, harassment, and intimidation,” Reaser told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.
Reaser was the only official who responded to requests for comment before press time.
Additional Threats
The whistleblower document shows hundreds of messages in ongoing conversations among the LLW members that were targeting specific parents and plotting ways to harm them. More of LLW’s messages show that another parent, Mark Winn, was targeted by LLW in an effort to have him fired.
“I was taken back when I received a phone call from the sheriff’s department, a deputy saying I was being threatened online,” Winn told 7News.
During a 2022 board meeting, Winn had quoted a bible passage about protecting children, which the LLW members claimed was an attack on gay children and began making threats against him.
“Mark Winn. I’m gonna find his employer,” one post said.
Another member responded, “If he had said that [expletive] about black kids or autistic kids I would shoot him” and “his life needs to be PERMANENTLY disassembled.” The same person continued to make violent statements.
The first member replied, “I want to contact his employer to do just that. Ruin his livelihood.”
“It shocked me,” Winn told 7News about the specific messages.
High-Level Officials Get Involved
Although Brand has not had any Loudoun County school board members reach out to her or her own elected representatives, she is in contact with some members of Congress about the whistleblower’s information, including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Brand told The Epoch Times.
U.S. Reps. Bob Good (R-Va.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) sent a letter to Serotkin, urging him to condemn the hateful rhetoric of the LLW and open an investigation into the group.
“Any attempts by staff and associates of Loudoun County officials or school board members, to further harass, intimidate, or otherwise silence American parents must be fully investigated and those responsible must be held accountable,” the letter said.
Virginia’s Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears condemned the comments of LLW members.
“We’re destroying America from the inside. This is what our enemies do to us,” Earle-Sears told 7News in a follow-up report.
“There’s nothing but hate in that group,” she said.
Earle-Sears called on all elected officials with alleged ties to the group to disavow the comments from Loudoun Love Warriors.
Nick Minock, the 7News reporter who broke the story, reported that the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation into potential threats made by those in the Facebook group.