NJ Mom Says DHS, TSA 'Threat-Tagged' Her, Wrecked Her Life for Questioning Sexual Posters at School

A New Jersey mom who says she was treated like a terrorist for voicing concerns over offensive signs at her children's school is now suing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) for their alleged role in retaliating against her for speaking out. 

As CBN News reported, attorneys with the Thomas More Society, a nonprofit, public interest law firm, are representing Angela Reading. They filed a lawsuit on March 15, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

According to the group, the law school graduate had voiced concerns about posters featuring terms like "polysexual" and "pansexual" displayed at a local elementary school during a "Math Night" event she attended in 2022 with her two young daughters.

Teachers had reportedly directed young children at the school to create the posters.

Reading took to Facebook to express her parental concerns over such activity.

"To say the least, I am livid," she wrote in part. "Why are elementary schools promoting/allowing elementary kids to research topics on sexuality and create posters? This is not a state elementary standard (law) nor in the BOE-approved curriculum. It's perverse and should be illegal to expose my kids to sexual content." 

Reading explicitly expressed in the post that her comments were made as a private citizen and were not expressive in her role as a member of her county's regional board of education. 

"Mrs. Reading merely questioned why elementary children were being invited to research topics of sexuality, noting that it is not in the state educational standards nor the board of education approved curriculum," Thomas More Society Special Counsel Christopher Ferrara told CBN News.

"Mrs. Reading did not name names or schools, and invited respectful debate," he added.  

However, the mom's post was quickly removed from Facebook.

Her lawsuit alleges that North Hanover Township Police Chief Robert Duff, acting in combination with military personnel from the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and School Superintendent Helen Payne coerced the post's removal under Duff's threat to the Facebook page administrator of liability for a "school shooting." 

But it did not end there.

The non-profit legal group adds that this coerced censorship was accompanied by a retaliatory campaign against Reading. Her name was referred to various law enforcement and security agencies and her First Amendment-protected speech was depicted as a threat to the community. 

She was forced to resign her position on the Northern Burlington County Regional School District Board of Education and offers of employment were rescinded. 

Earlier this month, Reading amended her lawsuit alleging that DHS, TSA, and NJOHSP also participated in "threat-tagging" and monitoring her. 

"As a result, Mrs. Reading was stripped of her 'Trusted Traveler' status at airports under the CLEAR program, as if she represented a security threat," the attorneys explained in a press release.

Reading's court battle against these local, state, and federal agencies is now in it is third year. She is seeking injunctive relief, damages, and a declaratory judgment to protect not only her First Amendment rights but to set a precedent against government censorship. 

"My entire life has been uprooted," Reading previously told CBN News. "There are damages far outreaching that will follow me throughout my entire life. I don't even feel comfortable and safe going out in my community the way that they portrayed me. I've lost friends that don't talk to me who actually believed the things that were being said."  

Thomas More Society Special Counsel Christopher Ferrara explained, "This case, which began during the Biden administration, represents exactly the kind of 'weaponization of government' the Trump administration has vowed to correct."

"Angela Reading is a caring mother and an upstanding citizen, who was branded a 'security threat' for voicing commonsense beliefs about the educational environment of minor-aged children. We hope that with the change of administration, this case can be brought to an amicable resolution. I can't imagine the Trump administration wants to continue to defend this egregious example of government weaponization against concerned parents who oppose the woke agenda being imposed upon school children," he added. 

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