Members of a Loudoun County Facebook group, which included staffers from several local governmental offices, doxxed and threatened violence and retaliation against several concerned parents who spoke out at school-board meetings, according to documents obtained by the local ABC affiliate.
The group targeted at least three Loudoun County residents who have spoken during public comment periods at school-board meetings over the past two years to push for parental rights in education, academic rigor, special education improvements and school safety.
Scott Mineo is a Loudoun County parent who says he was fired after members of the group — who appear to be associated with County Supervisor Juli Briskman, school board member Atoosa Reaser, and County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj — put pressure on his employer to let him go. Members of the group also reportedly referred Mineo to the FBI, IRS and DHS, he claimed, “all because they don’t like my opinion.”
“They’re probably going to sit back and celebrate the fact that I’m unemployed,” Mineo told 7News. “I’m having a hard time finding a job. And who knows what’s next with the IRS and the FBI? I don’t know. But they’ve done more than just put me out of a job. It’s impacting my family, my kids.”
The group, called the “Loudoun Love Warriors,” also shared threats against another Loudoun County resident, Mark Winn, who quoted a verse from the Bible in a speech before the school board.
The group circulated a petition to ban “hate speech” after Winn spoke at a December school board meeting and said they planned to find his employer and hold the company accountable until he is fired — all while Winn’s wife battled stage four cancer.
Members expressed a desire to “ruin his livelihood” and to also ruin the livelihoods of board meeting attendees who clapped for Winn’s comments.
One member reportedly said lives “need to be ruined beyond repair.”
“Im telling you. SOMETHING has to happen to one of them,” one message read. “If he had said that s*** about black kids or autistic kids I would shoot him,” another said.
Other comments included, “Im soooo ready to show up with guns lol” and “His life needs to be PERMANENTLY disassembled.”
Despite the potential for violence, a Loudoun County real-estate agent appeared to post Winn’s address in the group.
The sheriff’s department was made aware of the postings and reached out to Winn to say he was being threatened online.
“Quoting scripture in a public forum, that never has been, and never should be considered hate speech,” Winn told 7News. “When they threaten someone’s employment or threaten somebody’s life, or threaten their home, yeah that’s hate speech.”
The group gave a similar treatment to Elicia Brand, another Loudoun County parent who has been vocal at board meetings.
One member of the group wrote, “Please leave me in a room alone with Elicia” and “She is so lucky there are laws because she would be curbstomped.”
The group included campaign volunteers, supporters, and staff for several county elected officials. Members of the group appear to be associated with Biberaj, Briskman, Reaser and other officials, including School Board Chair Ian Serotkin, school board member Brenda Sheridan, school board member Erika Ogedegbe, school board candidate Anne Donohue, sheriff candidate Craig Buckley, and Chair Phyllis Randall.
None of the officials were involved in the threats, however.
A candidate for county supervisor, Puja Khanna, appears to have been a member of the Facebook group when the threats happened, according to the report, while school board member Ogedegbe was a member of the group before the threats took place inside the group chat. Ogedegbe told the outlet she unsubscribed from the group after the election and does not have any knowledge of current conversations.
One member of the group wrote, “We are too strong for them. Once Buckley [candidate for Loudoun County Sheriff] is elected the FULL tide turns. Im betting my life on him.”
Buckley told 7News that “violent threats in an form ill not be tolerated, especially those intended to inhibit First Amendment free speech rights of those we might not agree with.”
Briskman told the outlet she had no comment, while Reaser said, “Although I have no knowledge of the incidents to which you are referring, I fully condemn any and all threats of violence, harassment, and intimidation.”
Serotkin and Donohue also condemned violent language and threats, while Biberaj expressed “faith that our local law enforcement is equipped to investigate the matters,” if they have crossed into being “unlawful.”
The Loudoun County Democratic Committee chair, Avram Fechter, said the committee condemns the use of violent language and threats of violence and said it plans to “fully investigate who made the threats, who condoned the threats, and who saw the threats and ignored the threats.”
“Anyone who makes, condones, or tolerates violent rhetoric of any kind is not welcome in LCDC. Those involved will be asked to resign or I will initiate action to expel them consistent with LCDC by-laws,” Fechter said.
The latest incident comes after another Facebook group, the “Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County,” came under investigation in March 2021 after the sheriff’s office received complaints saying posts in the groups were “evidence of organized criminal activity intended to infringe upon First Amendment rights and violated certain laws surrounding the crimes of stalking, harassment, and racketeering. While the group was accused of creating a “hit list” of those who held opposing views, the sheriff’s office announced in July 2021 that no one would be criminally charged.