The first newsletter for Hamilton County’s chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national conservative organization, received a lot of attention because of a quote from Adolf Hitler at the top of the first page.
The first draft of the newsletter, released June 21, had only the quote, “He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future,” attributed to the Nazi leader, with no explanation of why it was included.
State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, D-Fishers, responded that night on Twitter.
“It was brought to my attention that a special interest group of Hamilton County has been using quotes authored by Hitler. Let me be very clear. Hate has no place in Hamilton County or anywhere in Indiana,” she wrote. “By definition liberty means the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions, Hitler believed in the opposite of liberty. And if you were looking for a quote regarding youth, here is a better one, ‘The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.’”
Jocelyn Vare, a Fishers City Councilmember, also posted about the newsletter June 21 on Twitter.
“To the local members of Moms For Liberty, our neighbors, I say this: Your Hitler rally cry is repulsive,” she wrote. “Our community will not be undone by your poison.”
A later draft of the newsletter posted on the group’s Facebook page included this explanation: “The quote from a horrific leader should put parents on alert. If the government has control over our children today, they control our country’s future. We The People must be vigilant and protect children from an overreaching government.”
Hamilton County Chapter Chair Paige Miller responded via text to a request for comment.
“We condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and his dark place in human history,” she said. “We should not have quoted him in our newsletter and we express our deepest apology.”
Moms for Liberty recently was listed as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. According to the SPLC. “Moms for Liberty is a far-right organization that engages in anti-student inclusion activities and self-identifies as part of the modern parental rights movement. The group grew out of opposition to public health regulations for COVID-19, opposes LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive school curriculum, and has advocated books bans.”
In its newsletter, the Hamilton County chapter includes a response to the SPLC from the national organization’s founders, Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich.
“Name-calling parents who want to be a part of their child’s education as ‘hate groups’ or ‘bigoted’ just further exposes what this battle is all about: Who fundamentally gets to decide what is taught to our kids in school — parents or government employees?” they state.
Also in the Hamilton County chapter’s newsletter is a list of “parent wins.” They include:
- A new policy at Hamilton East Public Library that requires all books in the youth sections to be reviewed, and books containing certain topics be moved to the adult section.
- The passage of HB1447, which establishes a set of rules regarding school library materials that will allow any community member to ask for specific items to be removed from the shelves and requires schools to publish a catalogue of library books.
- The passage of HB 1608, which prohibits instruction on human sexuality in kindergarten through third grade and requires schools to notify a parent if a student wants to change their name or pronoun.
- The passage of HB 1001, which expands eligibility for vouchers that can be used for private schools, including religious schools.
- The passage of SB 380, which requires schools to publish graduation rates and allows schools to establish dress codes.
- More stringent rules related to student surveys conducted by the national organization Panorama.
The newsletter also highlights the June 25 Carmel Pride event, and the event’s $10,000 grant from the “It Gets Better Project.” The newsletter includes an image of the event’s local sponsor page, with a note beside it stating, “And who are the sponsors who support this perversion?”
