Hate influencer Chaya Raichik claims report linking her to bomb threats is vengeful “hit piece”

Hate influencer Chaya Raichik accused NBC News reporter David Ingram of writing a “hit piece” on her when he reached out for comment about the inordinate number of bomb threats that have been linked to posts from Raichik’s social media account, Libs of TikTok.

Raichik has achieved national infamy for her posts targeting LGBTQ+ educators and allies.

Related:

Activists liken GOP to Nazis for bill that outs trans folks & changes the meaning of “equal” rights

The new legislation would force trans folks to mark their birth certificates as neither man nor woman.

Ingram’s piece has identified 21 instances since November 2020 in which schools or other institutions called out by Libs of TikTok for pushing “woke” ideology subsequently endured bomb threats. An additional 12 institutions targeted by Raichik experienced other forms of what Ingram refers to as “violent intimidation.”

Stay connected to your community

Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.

Daily

Weekly

Good News

While there is no way to say for sure that Raichik’s posts directly led to the threats, the repeated instances of threats following her posts are certainly damning evidence. Other reports have found an even greater number of connections between the places Raichik posts about and the threats that follow.

Media Matters documented 33 instances of threats and harassment directed at 25 different institutions after Libs of TikTok targeted them between February 2022 and October 2023. 

And USA Today confirmed “dozens” of bomb threats, death threats, and other forms of harassment that followed LibsofTikTok posts since February 2022, including at least two dozen bomb threats directed at schools and libraries during the summer and fall of 2023 alone. USA Today notes that their research likely undercounts the total number of threats, as some may have gone unreported.

An FBI statement to NBC News acknowledged “an increase in threats of violence targeting government officials and institutions, houses of worship, schools, and medical facilities, just to name a few” but did not respond to Ingram’s questions specifically about Raichik.

It did, however, acknowledge the immense resources the threats have required.

“When the threats are made as a hoax, it puts innocent people at risk, is a waste of law enforcement’s limited resources, and costs taxpayers,” the statement said. “The FBI and our state and local partners will continue to aggressively pursue perpetrators of these threats — real or false — and hold them accountable.”

Beyond governmental costs, the threats also drain school resources — not to mention the trauma they cause to students. Schools have had to close, sometimes for multiple days, in response to these threats.

Raichik has claimed that she is merely sharing information and can’t control how her social media followers respond to her posts. However, her account regularly echoes right-wing claims of LGBTQ+ people and allies “indoctrinating,” ”grooming,” and “sexualizing” kids — rhetoric that leads to violence against queer people and their allies. Her bio on X once proudly touted her being labeled as a “stochastic terrorist,” a person who uses mass media to provoke random acts of ideologically motivated violence.

In 2022, she told the Washington Post, “We 100 % condemn any acts/threats of violence,” yet she posted a photo of herself in November 2023 smiling with the cover of USA Today, which had a headline declaring, “When Libs of TikTok posts, threats increasingly follow.”

Today’s front cover of @USATODAY! pic.twitter.com/vNQ2pnyNIp

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 6, 2023

She has publicly called out reporters for asking her questions about the threats. For Ingram’s report, she did not respond directly to him, but rather posted screenshots of his email on X and claimed he was “parroting the ‘b*mb threat’ libel.”

“They do it to try to paint me as an extremist to discredit me. This ‘b*mb threat’ narrative is really getting old,” she wrote, along with a yawning emoji.

Dave from NBC is mad that I made him look like an idiot with his DEI piece so he’s retaliating by writing a hit piece on me parroting the “b*mb threat” libel.

They do it to try to paint me as an extremist to discredit me. This “b*mb threat” narrative is really getting old 🥱 https://t.co/IEewBb22vI pic.twitter.com/rnNvEw2QZR

— Chaya Raichik (@ChayaRaichik10) February 5, 2024

The fact that it has become easier to connect Raichik’s posts with threats of violence also shows her growing influence. In fact, this month she was appointed to serve on the Oklahoma Department of Education’s Library Media Advisory Committee. The committee decides what state public school students are allowed to read. Raichik does not live in Oklahoma and has no experience working in public schools.