Indiana couple featured in Raw Story investigation alleges Fox News viewer made violent threats: lawsuit

Indiana public school administrator Jenny Oakley and her husband, Justin — featured recently in an exclusive Raw Story investigation — filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday, alleging a Georgia man sent Jenny a violent and threatening email soon after a report on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime.

The report used hidden-camera video from Accuracy in Media, a Washington, D.C., non-profit, obtained under apparently false pretense. The lawsuit says the “highly edited” video purports to “prove” Oakley and administrators from six other Indiana public school districts were deceiving parents about race-related curriculum.

The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of Indiana, lists Samuel P. Warren as the defendant. That was the name signed on the email, which also carried an address in Canton, Ga., and cell and fax numbers. The lawsuit seeks "compensatory and punitive damages," listing no specific dollar figure.

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Raw Story left a voicemail Tuesday afternoon at the cell number. Fox News, which has previously not responded to requests for comment, did not immediately respond to a follow-up request Tuesday.

Oakley, a mid-level administrator at the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville, said she was treated unfairly and portrayed out of context in the video. She does not know Warren, the lawsuit says, and still hasn’t seen the unedited video from Accuracy in Media.

The email addressed from Warren started, “Jenny- How is it that you still have a job and not found your way to a tall tree with a short piece of rope??”

Three paragraphs down, it said, “Everyone you ever encounter after that should spit in your face, fling their feces at you (with impeccable aim), punch you,knock you down, kick you, piss on you and hold you there for similar treatment by everyone waiting in line for their turn --- you despicable sad excuse for a sub-human being.”

Raw Story’s reporting revealed that two other Indiana public school administrators who were in the video, from Elkhart and Plainfield, received the same email.

The lawsuit alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress and, as a result, Justin’s loss of the “love, affection, care, services, companionship, society, and consortium of his wife.” They are asking for a jury trial.

The Raw Story article detailed the impact on the Oakleys, who said they felt their safety was at risk from viewer reaction to the Fox News segment. They reported the email to police and bought a Doberman. Justin Oakley got out his guns for the first time in 10 years.

Jon Little, the Oakleys’ lawyer, said the couple is standing up for a principle.

“Do you want to live in a civil society?” Little told Raw Story. “Do you want to live in a society that values learning and knowledge and kind, human discourse and kind, human actions where you love thy neighbor? Or do you want to live in a society where people can hide behind their computer and fire off vitriolic, hate-filled emails?”