The Los Angeles Post
U.S. World Business Lifestyle
Today: March 18, 2025
Today: March 18, 2025

Moms for Liberty removes two Kentucky chapter leaders who posed with far-right Proud Boys

Moms for Liberty Proud Boys
November 15, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) โ€” Moms for Liberty says it has removed two Kentucky chapter chairs from leadership positions after the women posed in photos with members of the far-right group the Proud Boys, one of several controversies that the conservative โ€œparental rightsโ€ nonprofit has fended off in its rise to national prominence in public education.

The two women, who had led local chapters in Boone and Campbell counties near the Ohio border, appeared in photos with several men dressed in yellow and black Proud Boys clothing at a Nov. 4 rally in Frankfort, the Kentucky capital. The photos, posted on Facebook by another attendee, show the women smiling in Moms for Liberty clothing, as one helps to hold up a flag that reads, โ€œAppalachian Proud Boys Kentucky.โ€

The former chapter chairs were removed because they โ€œdemonstrated a lack of judgement and misalignment with our core values,โ€ the national Moms for Liberty organization posted Tuesday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Moms for Liberty removes two Kentucky chapter leaders who posed with far-right Proud Boys
Moms for Liberty Proud Boys

โ€œMoms for Liberty is in no way affiliated with the Proud Boys and does not condone involvement with the organization. We repudiate hate and violence,โ€ the group continued, adding that it wouldn't allow โ€œthe actions of a fewโ€ to define the rest of its members.

Since its founding in 2021, Moms for Liberty has gained popularity and generated forceful backlash for its efforts to elect right-wing school board candidates and to target references to race and LGBTQ+ identity in classrooms around the United States.

The group is no stranger to controversy. Earlier this year, an Indiana chapter of the group apologized and condemned Adolf Hitler after it was criticized for using a quote attributed to the Nazi leader in its inaugural newsletter.

In June, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated Moms for Liberty as an anti-government extremist group, arguing it uses parentsโ€™ rights as a vehicle to attack public education and make schools less welcoming for minority and LGBTQ+ students. Moms for Liberty has disputed the label, saying the groupโ€™s efforts to fund and endorse school board races show it is not anti-government.

Voters opted for liberal and moderate candidates over conservative contenders in many high-profile school board races on Election Day last week. Moms for Liberty said about 40% of its endorsed candidates won.

The SPLC describes the Proud Boys as a hate group for its promotion of white nationalist ideas, involvement in violence and the role that some of its members played in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

About 60 Proud Boys members have been charged with federal crimes related to the assault, which was intended to halt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory over Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

More than half of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trials in Washington In May, a jury convicted former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio and three lieutenants of seditious conspiracy charges for what prosecutors said was a plot to keep Trump in the White House after his defeat. Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years behind bars, the longest prison term for a Jan. 6 case.

In the photos posted on Facebook, the former Boone County Moms for Liberty chair joins several others flashing the โ€œOKโ€ sign with their hands. The Anti-Defamation League says that sign is sometimes used to symbolize white supremacist beliefs or the Three Percenter movement, a wing of the anti-government extremist militia movement.

Moms for Liberty said it would โ€œfollow our current policies and proceduresโ€ in selecting new chapter leaders. It did not respond to an inquiry about whether the two former leaders would be removed from the organization or allowed to stay on as rank-and-file members. Their names and contact information were removed from chapter webpages.

The former Campbell County chair declined comment in a phone call with The Associated Press, and the former Boone County chair didn't respond to an emailed query.

___

Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman in Silver Spring, Maryland, contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Pressโ€ฏreceives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about APโ€™s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Related Articles

What do we know about the Swedish school attacker? Russia's Supreme Court refuses to consider nationalist Girkin's appeal, TASS reports Turkey dismisses 5 military academy graduates for taking discontinued secular oath Black History Month explained: Its origins, celebrations and myths
Share This

Popular

Americas|Crime|Political|US|World

Inside El Salvadorโ€™s prison holding Venezuelans deported from US

Inside El Salvadorโ€™s prison holding Venezuelans deported from US
Americas|Crime|Political|US|World

Relatives of missing Venezuelan migrants desperate for answers after US deportations to El Salvador

Relatives of missing Venezuelan migrants desperate for answers after US deportations to El Salvador
Crime|Europe|Political|Sports|World

Conor McGregor's White House immigration comments draw rebuke from Irish PM

Conor McGregor's White House immigration comments draw rebuke from Irish PM
Asia|Business|Crime|Economy

Vietnam developer proposes 15-year rescue for bank at heart of giant fraud, documents show

Vietnam developer proposes 15-year rescue for bank at heart of giant fraud, documents show

Crime

Americas|Crime|Political|US|World

A timeline of the legal wrangling and deportation flights after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act

A timeline of the legal wrangling and deportation flights after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act
Americas|Crime|Political|US|World

Mexico arrests alleged MS-13 leader on FBIโ€™s most wanted list

Mexico arrests alleged MS-13 leader on FBIโ€™s most wanted list
Celebrity|Crime|Entertainment

Jonathan Majors reportedly admits to being โ€˜aggressiveโ€™ with ex-girlfriend in newly released audio clip

Jonathan Majors reportedly admits to being โ€˜aggressiveโ€™ with ex-girlfriend in newly released audio clip
Americas|Crime|Environment|US

Residents pick up the pieces after devastating storms scour the US South and Midwest

Residents pick up the pieces after devastating storms scour the US South and Midwest

Access this article for free.

Already have an account? Sign In