A far-right influencer who was accused of instigating bomb threats last year against a school library in Tulsa has been named an adviser to a state library committee, the head of the Oklahoma State Department of Education announced Tuesday.
Chaya Raichik, who runs the incendiary Libs of TikTok social media accounts and is not an Oklahoma resident, was appointed to the state education department’s Library Media Advisory Committee.
“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,” State Superintendent Ryan Walters said in a statement. “Because of her work, families across the country know just what is going on in schools around the country.”
Raichik’s Libs of TikTok accounts have more than 3 million combined followers on X and Instagram. Its content — which is often laced with bigoted rhetoric — generally singles out LGBTQ people, drag queens and their employers, and criticizes them for promoting diversity, inclusion and equity efforts.
In addition to last year’s scare in Tulsa, posts by the account have preceded several bomb threats to schools, libraries and hospitals across the country in recent years.
Raichik did not respond to a set of questions sent by NBC News. The Libs of TikTok account replied to NBC News’ request for comment on X with a compilation of drawings seemingly from young adult novels that depict sexual encounters and asked: “Do you think this is appropriate for kids in school?”
The Oklahoma State Department of Education did not immediately return a request for comment.
Last August, Union Public Schools, an Oklahoma school district that covers parts of Tulsa and some of its suburbs, said it received bomb threats for six consecutive days. The threats came after Raichik shared a critical video about one of its school librarians.
The video Raichik posted showed a school librarian walking next to a bookshelf and was captioned: “POV: teachers in your state are dropping like flies but you are still just not quite finished pushing your woke agenda at the public school.” The video Raichik posted replaced the librarian’s original caption, which read: “My radical liberal agenda is teaching kids to love books and be kind — hbu??”
The threats against Union Public Schools were not deemed credible, according to the Tulsa Police Department, which investigated the incident in coordination with the FBI and the Broken Arrow Police Department.
Union Public Schools declined to comment on Raichik’s appointment to the state library committee.
In 2022, Boston Children’s Hospital said that it received an anonymous bomb threat shortly after Raichik’s account and others falsely claimed that the hospital was providing gender-affirming hysterectomies to children younger than 18. The Boston Police Department said at the time that it sent a bomb squad to the hospital to investigate the accusations, but did not find any suspicious items.
Raichik has repeatedly denied the accusations linking her to threats like those faced by Union Public Schools and Boston Children’s Hospital.
Walters, the state superintendent, has similarly been criticized for sharing the video of the Tulsa librarian, prompting Democrats to call for his impeachment.
On Tuesday, he wrote on X that he was “proud” to have Raichik “on our team.”
“Her unique perspective is invaluable as part of my plan to make Oklahoma schools safer for kids and friendly to parents,” Walters said. “Chaya has a much-needed and powerful voice as well as a tremendous platform that will benefit Oklahoma students and their families.”
It is unclear if Raichik, who is a former real estate agent, has any prior experience in the field of education.
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Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
