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Oklahoma City, Okla.– Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced Tuesday that he has appointed Chaya Raichik to the OSDE Library Media Advisory Committee. Raichik is the content creator behind the far-right social media account Libs of TikTok.
He stated in a press release, “Chaya is on the front lines showing the world exactly what the radical left is all about – lowering standards, porn in schools, and pushing woke indoctrination on our kids.” He went on to say that her presence on the committee is, “invaluable as part of my plan to make Oklahoma schools safer for kids and friendly to parents.”
There was no additional information about what duties the new committee entails or when it will begin operating.
It’s unclear if the former Brooklyn real estate agent turned far-right influencer is even a resident of Oklahoma. The content Raichik typically pushes targets minority and LGBTQ+ groups. She often posts inaccurate assumptions about subjects like diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and incites hate through the persecution of marginalized communities.
Superintendent Walters has previously engaged with other far-right accounts and groups. He has actively voiced support for the group Moms for Liberty, which advocates against curriculum that mentions subjects like critical race theory and LGBTQ+ identity.
In June of 2023 he called the Moms for Liberty Conference the “most important conference to happen in Philadelphia since 1776.” The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated Moms for Liberty as a hate group.
Libs of TikTok problematic history
In August of 2023, the account shared a misleading video of Kirby Mackenzie, a librarian from Ellen Ochoa Elementary in Tulsa, OK. In the video, Mackenzie performed a TikTok trend to a Ludacris song while holding books as she entered a classroom. She captioned it, “My only radical agenda is teaching kids to love books and be kind.”
An edit of the innocuous video, which removed the caption, made it to the far-right platform. Superintendent Walters reposted the video where he stated, “Woke idealogy is real and I am here to stop it.” Raichik claimed that Mackenzie was spreading a radical liberal agenda to the students at Ochoa Elementary.
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The Libs of Tiktok post, which was shared with Raichik’s 2.8 million followers, prompted a series of bomb threats directed at Tulsa schools and Mackenzie’s home in fall 2023. Tulsa PD delayed the school day to allow for bomb-sniffing K9 units to give the all-clear. In the days following, more bomb threats were sent to the school and others in the district. Walters never made a public statement about the harm perpetrated against Oklahoma schools by the account.
This isn’t the first time the account has been the source of instigation for bomb threats. In August of 2022, the account posted false information that Boston Children’s Hospital was performing hysterectomies on children. Similarly to the attack on Ochao Elementary, hospital staff faced harassment and several bomb threats at the facility.
Here’s the thing with libs of tick, she only posts things that are already posted on social media. She doesn’t create the content she posts, she simply reposts. Do we really want our children subjected to such things though? Look into the banned books, they’re pornographic.