Parents at the center of the mask mandate lawsuit with Fort Worth ISD knew there could be some backlash. However, the parents did not think they would be attacked on social media and doxxed.
They were further shocked to find out that the bulk of the social media bullying and doxxing can be linked to a citizen who is the co-chairman of FWISD’s Racial Equity Committee.
The parents—Hollie Plemons, Kerri Rehmeyer and Todd Daniel—took copies of the social media post to board trustee Anne Darr, who requested that the parents send an email to the entire board. They did, in hopes that the board would do something about the situation.
In their opening paragraph, they wrote, “We are writing you today in regards to the co-chair of your Racial Equity Committee (REC) & Redistricting Committee, Norma Garcia-Lopez (NGL). After speaking with Mrs. Darr about NGL in person on Monday, October 4th we are taking her advice & compiling all the evidence we showed her that evening into one email for the whole board to review.”
The social media post presented in the email was laced with racist remarks, as well as doxxing of the parents, giving out their addresses and phone numbers. Social media posts from Keisha Braziel, the Volunteer Chair of the Tarrant County Democrat Party, and Norma Garcia-Lopez, the co-chairman for the Racial Equity Committee for FWISD, gave out phone numbers and the names of the schools their students attended.
Garcia-Lopez also made social media post calling out the parents who were attending a board meeting, stating, “These are parents teaching their kids not to care about others.”
Republican activist and former FWISD student Carlos Turicos was a member of the Racial Equity Committee with Garcia-Lopez. Turicos stated, “Being a former FWISD Racial Equity Committee member, I can say that Norma will insult and try to instigate conflict whenever any conservative views are brought up. She will call Hispanics “sellouts” and anyone else who disagrees with her horrible names. Her attitude is something that can be found with a bully.”
In another social media post, Garcia-Lopez would call Hispanics who disagreed with her beliefs “vendidos,” a slang term translated to mean Hispanics who sellout their culture.
Social media posts were not the only complaints that the group of parents listed in the email. There were multiple bad reviews left on business accounts, phone calls to employers, and a profanity-filled voicemail left at the home of Kerri Rehmeyer.
One of the parents, Holly Plemons, stated, “When I first found Norma Garcia-Lopez’s social media post that said the only reason we won in court was because we were rich and white and privileged, I was completely shocked. How in the world was this woman making it about our skin color when our win in court was so obviously just, as we have the law on our side? I was very disappointed when I learned later that the same woman who called me a coward and said us plaintiffs had rich, white, Tanglewood privilege was actually on not one, but two FWISD committees involving race.”
Garcia-Lopez is also on the redistricting committee for the district.
Plemons continued, “My disappointment continued when my own school board didn’t reply to our group emails asking if they were going to respond to the overwhelming evidence we sent them proving Garcia-Lopez is a racist and a threat to us parents. I am completely flabbergasted that FWISD appointed her in the first place, but to continue to support her is just unbelievable.”
On October 14, 2021, the parents sent the email to the FWISD board of trustees, asking that Garcia-Lopez be removed from the committee due to publicly making racist comments against white people and Hispanics who disagree with her. Neither the board nor the district responded to their email. An inquiry to the district has yet to receive a response.
Kerri Rehmeyer stated, “I just don’t understand people who go through life judging everyone based on the color of their skin. That is a sad and destructive outlook. It’s very concerning what kind of policies she will push for on this committee. I just don’t think a racist has any place making decisions that will affect the children of FWISD.”
Rehmeyer continued, “All we wanted was for the district to follow the Governor’s [executive order] and allow all families to have a choice for their children to wear a mask. What did race have to do with it?”
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