Woman subjected to Proud Boys harassment campaign after publicly opposing Florida book bans

Jen Cousins, a parent in the Orlando, Florida area, decided to stand up to the right-wing group Moms For Liberty for instigating school book bans all across the country — and found herself on the receiving end of harassment from the Proud Boys, reported VICE News on Monday.

It all started after she attended a local school board meeting in which a Proud Boys member, Jacob Engels, spoke out to get books banned in area schools — and Cousins deduced he was working with local Moms for Liberty activist Alicia Farrant.

"After Gender Queer and other books were banned in Orange County, Cousins joined with Stephana Ferrell, a mom to two biracial children in the county, to create the Florida Freedom to Read Project to combat the banning of more than 1,100 books from Florida’s libraries, and the work of groups like Moms for Liberty, which has helped ban hundreds of pro-LGBTQ books from school libraries," reported David Gilbert. "But the more Cousins pushed back against book bans, the more Farrant, who is now an Orange County School Board member, and Moms for Liberty, came after her."

Moms for Liberty has led efforts to challenge books around the country, in particular trying to restrict the right of kids to read anything in schools that discusses race or sexuality. A Tennessee chapter of the organization even tried to get books about Galileo thrown out as being anti-Christian.

IN OTHER NEWS: 'Bad actor' Cyber Ninjas boss under investigation for Georgia election meddling plot: attorney

The group targeted her online, posting pictures of her children — including from a drag brunch her family attended in solidarity with the Pulse Nightclub shooting survivors — and attacked her as a groomer and a pedophile. Cousins says she doesn't know how they got her private pictures in the first place.

"The harassment campaign against Cousins culminated in August 2022, when she spoke at a rally in support of trans rights in Orlando," said the report. "'Look at Jen Cousins the pedophile, Jen Cousins the groomer, are you going to go home and read porn to your four year-old,' Engels, who was at the rally with other members of the Proud Boys, shouted as Cousins spoke, according to a video of the event Engels posted online."

Cousins has now filed a police report against Engels, telling officers, “I have been targeted by this man at rallies, school board meetings, and online. I now fear for my life, and the lives of my four children.”

The Proud Boys are a self-styled "Western Chauvinist" group infamous for their street brawls with political opponents. Several of its members participated in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which led to some higher-ranking members being found guilty of seditious conspiracy earlier this month.