Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Popular Information reports:
Two members of Moms for Liberty, a right-wing activist group, have reported several Florida school librarians to law enforcement. They claimed they had evidence that librarians were distributing “pornography” to minors and requested that law enforcement officers be dispatched. This represents a serious escalation of the tactics deployed by members of Moms for Liberty against school librarians.
On October 25, Jennifer Tapley, a member of the Santa Rosa County chapter of Moms for Liberty and a candidate for school board, contacted the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. “I’ve got some evidence a crime was committed,” Tapley said in an audio recording of the call obtained by Popular Information through a public records request.
“Pornography given to a minor in a school. And I would like to make a report with somebody and turn over the evidence.” Tapley made the call from the lobby of the main office of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office in Milton, Florida.
Read the full article.
1. Two members of @Moms4Liberty have reported several Florida librarians to law enforcement, claiming the librarians committed felonies by distributing pornography to minors.
Popular Information obtained the video from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.
WATCH: pic.twitter.com/Korty5aoVs
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 6, 2023
2. “The only reason we are here: A crime is being committed. It’s a 3rd-degree felony. And we’ve got the evidence,” one @Moms4Liberty member told the deputy
“The governor says this is child pornography. It’s a serious crime,” Jennifer Tapley, a candidate for school board, added
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 6, 2023
3. The “porn” at issue is actually a YA novel, Storm and Fury. The book is mostly about humans and gargoyles fighting demons.
There are a few passages w/sexual themes, but it’s recommended by the School Library Journal, Barnes & Noble, and others for high school students pic.twitter.com/w8sXVfAu4j
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 6, 2023
4. Tapley told Popular Information that any book that has a “sex scene” is pornography and not “appropriate for minors.” She did acknowledge that there may be exceptions for “extreme classics.”https://t.co/mDQWzHXNpT
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 6, 2023
5. Florida law, however, bans distributing a book w/sexual content if it is “harmful to minors.” Under Florida law, a book is only “harmful to minors” if it “[p]redominantly appeals to a prurient, shameful, or morbid interest.” This is a book about fighting demons.
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 6, 2023
6. One of the @Moms4Liberty members, Tom Gurski, told the officer that Storm and Fury was checked out from Jay High School “by a 17-year-old, which is important because she is a minor.”
Tapley showed the officers the book, w/offending passages marked with orange sticky notes. pic.twitter.com/ouHQyP8eoT
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 6, 2023
7. Tapley also points the finger at Ruth Witter, the head librarian for the county. Tapley presents the officers with a printout of Witter’s Facebook page and claims it is proof that “she [has been a] member of Santa Rosa County Stop Moms for Liberty since May.”
WATCH: pic.twitter.com/uXl7BirBFE
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 6, 2023
8. Tapley doesn’t mention to the deputy that Witter also follows several conservative pages on Facebook, including Fox Nation and a Republican candidate for local office.https://t.co/mDQWzHXNpT
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 6, 2023
9. Asked if she would like to see librarians criminally charged, Tapley told Popular Information it “depends on if there’s an intent.” She said her hope was that the Sheriff would tell the librarians, “you can’t do this,” and “if you continue… then there would be charges.”
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 6, 2023
10. In an email, Tapley claimed she “had no interactions with the Sheriff’s Office beyond accompanying a citizen there” and “any reporting that states otherwise would be unfactual”
We posted the full video from the Sheriff’s Office on YouTubehttps://t.co/1DjwbY0GOu
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 6, 2023