A conspiracy-minded Arizona Republican lawmaker has been busted for stealing his proposed teachers' code of ethics from an anti-Muslim website run by a far-right activist.
According to the Phoenix New Times, state lawmaker Rep. Mark Finchem (R - Oro Valley) lifted his proposed code -- which includes restricting teachers from engaging in political advocacy in the classroom -- from a website run by extremist gadfly David Horowitz.
"The nine points of Finchem’s proposed ethical code are identical to the proposed code of ethics from the Stop K-12 Indoctrination campaign," proposed by the Horowitz's Freedom Center, the New Times reports.
With the Southern Poverty Law Center calling Horowitz "a driving force of the anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, and anti-black movements," the report notes that Finchem's proposal basically matches word-for-word what can be found on the hate website.
“Our public schools have traditionally been the cornerstone of our country's democratic values, teaching students how to think not what to think. No longer,” the Stop K-12 Indoctrination website states. “Today, no age group and no corner of our K-12 classrooms are immune from the left's ideological aggression.”
According to the report, "Finchem’s code features the bizarre and very specific requirement that teachers not 'segregate students according to race, or single out one racial group of students as being responsible for the suffering or inequities experienced by another racial group of students.'"
The New Times reports, "In a video explaining the code of ethics posted on the Stop K-12 Indoctrination website, an editor for the site says the prohibition is necessary because of reports that educators have taught students the concept of white privilege. "
According to the report, this is not the first time that Finchem has used anti-Muslim websites to make his political points.
In 2016, the Republican lawmaker posted a link on his Facebook page to an article published by JihadWatch.org -- a blog affiliated with Horowitz’s group, reading "Is Obama facilitating jihad?.”
Horowitz also maintains a website that attempts to paint a vast left-wing conspiracy between academics and the media to undermine America.
