Libs of TikTok connected to 11 recent school bombing threats

At least 11 schools or school districts received bombing threats during September mere days after anti-LGBTQ+ activist Chaya Raichik – who goes by “Libs of TikTok” online — made posts highlighting aspects of their employees’ LGBTQ+-inclusive measures. The threats led to student evacuations and school closings.

VICE News contacted 42 school districts, schools, colleges, businesses, and event organizers that were mentioned in Libs of TikTok posts throughout September. Most of these groups didn’t respond to the news outlet’s inquiry. However, 11 schools reported receiving bomb threats after Libs of TikTok’s posts, and an employee and a student from two other schools said they experienced “vicious harassment, doxxing, and intimidation” after Raichik’s posts.

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LGBTQ Nation already reported that Union Public Schools near Tulsa, Oklahoma and Chabot Elementary School in Oakland, California both received bombing threats in September after Raichik made posts about each. Her posts highlighted an elementary school librarian in Oklahoma joking about being “just not quite finished pushing [her] woke agenda,” and a “Playdate Social for Black, Brown and API families” hosted by the California school.

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In addition to those two incidents, bomb threats were also received by the Western Heights Independent School District in Oklahoma City; Witchcraft Heights Elementary School in Salem, Massachusetts; the Anoka-Hennepin School District in Minnesota; Red Oak Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois; the Davis Joint Independent School District and Fresno State University in California; Pulaski High School and Brownsville Elementary School in Wisconsin; Denver Public Schools in Colorado; and the Tigard-Tualatin School District in Portland, Oregon.

These threats all occurred days after Raichik made posts about the schools and districts to her 2.5 million Twitter followers. Children were evacuated from the schools in Chicago and Massachusetts following the bombing threats. The Portland school was closed. In all cases, bombs were neither detonated nor found. Police deemed many of the threats as not credible.

In a September 15 Libs of TikTok post, Raichik noted that Red Oak Elementary School had an intersex-inclusive LGBTQ+ progress Pride flag hanging in a classroom. The school was targeted with bomb threats for the next two days, leading to student evacuations. A spokesperson from the school’s district told VICE News that “the last time the school district received a bomb threat was 25 years ago.”

On September 27, Raichik noted that a Fresno State University professor required students to enter their pronouns as part of an assignment. The next day, the university and the professor received bomb threats, VICE wrote.

Police have not directly linked the threats to Libs of TikTok. In fact, the FBI has said that threats against schools in 2022 were up by 60% compared to 2021.

However, two people associated with two other schools said that they were targeted after Raichik made posts about them. An elementary school bus driver in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who ordered rainbow Pride flag stickers and a transgender high school senior who was crowned Homecoming Queen in a North Kansas City, Missouri high school both reported “vicious harassment, doxxing, and intimidation” after Raichik’s posts about them.

Raichik’s previous posts have led to bombing and death threats against other numerous schools and children’s hospitals. She has claimed that she is merely sharing information and can’t control how people respond. However, she hasn’t continually discouraged her followers from committing such acts.

In the meanwhile, her account continues to echo and push right-wing claims of LGBTQ+ and allies “indoctrinating,” “grooming,” and “sexualizing” kids — rhetoric that leads to violence against queer people and their allies.