Oklahoma gives education job to far-right influencer linked to bomb threats at schools

Despite having no public education experience, Chaya Raichik — a former real estate agent who runs the controversial LibsofTikTok social media account — has just been appointed to a position where she will wield influence over educational materials made available to Oklahoma public school students.

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced on Tuesday that Raichik had been appointed to the Oklahoma Department of Education Library Media Advisory Committee, as part of his ongoing effort to gradually infuse far-right political ideologies into public school curriculum.

"No one has done more to expose what the radical left is all about than @ChayaRaichik10 and @libsoftiktok," Walters posted to X.

"Her's[sic] is a powerful voice to protect Oklahoma kids from porn in schools and woke indoctrination."

Walters elevated Raichik to her influential role despite her past history of posting incendiary content aimed at stoking the anger of her 2.8 million followers, many of whom have seized on her posts which, though they stop short of calling for violence, have suggested attacks on schools and even hospitals. According to Rolling Stone, Raichik frequently posts "videos that have been edited or stripped of context" to "expose" supposed liberal and pro-LGBTQ "indoctrination" in schools.

In November of last year, USA Today reported on how LibsofTikTok's posts often result in violent threats to educators and healthcare providers in cities across America including "Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and Akron, Ohio."

Just last year in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Raichik's account targeted an elementary school librarian that resulted in six consecutive days of bomb threats to the school. LibsofTikTok seized on a video on which the teacher sarcastically referred to her "radical liberal agenda" of pushing books on kids.

"Threats hit hospitals and medical clinics, and some temporarily evacuate their patients while law enforcement assesses the danger," USA Today's Will Carless wrote. "Then comes summer and fall 2023, at least two dozen public schools and libraries start receiving bomb threats. In California, Colorado, Oklahoma and Wisconsin, they cancel classes and evacuate students."

"These cases, and many more, share a common link: The victim of each threat had also been targeted, in the days before, by the enormously popular conservative social media channel Libs of TikTok," he added.