I was directed to this article- I'm copying and pasting the article here so you don't have to go looking for it.
Park Ridge church receives threats after Moms for Liberty posts photo of its Pride flag
The First Congressional United Church of Christ in Park Ridge notified police over threats on a social media posting of its pride flag from Moms for Liberty Facebook post.
- The social media posting, by a local Moms for Liberty chairperson, said the pride flag indicated support for pedophilia.
- The post has since been deleted, but the church says the comments on the post prompted them to reach out to law enforcement.
- Moms For Liberty is a conservative, parental rights nonprofit that has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty law Center.
The First Congressional United Church of Christ in Park Ridge told its congregation this weekend that it had received threats stemming from a social media post by the head of the Bergen County chapter of Moms for Liberty, a group known for opposing inclusive curricula in school and supporting book bans.
The post by local chapter chair Alexandra Bougher, later deleted, included a photo of the church's Progress Pride flag and commentary from Bougher suggesting that it promotes pedophilia. The flag in question is an intersex inclusive Progress Pride flag, but the post — and many of its comments — suggested that it included support for "minor-attracted persons," which is not true.
In its statement, the church said it alerted authorities when "one commentator suggested the only way to deal with us was with 'gasoline and a match.'"
A police officer was present at the church's Sunday service, and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office has been alerted to the situation, the church said. A Park Ridge police officer in an unmarked SUV was parked behind the church, guarding its rear entrance, late Sunday morning.
The flag in question was fastened to a vertical beam, and it incorporated light blue, pink and white stripes to represent the trans community.
The congregation met for its weekly worship service at 10 a.m., and Pastor Mark Suriano said the church pews were more filled than usual. He said his flock received an outpouring of support from the broader community over the weekend.
"Here in this place, in this congregation, among this people of God, we speak only of true freedom," the pastor said, as seen in a video recording of the service. "True liberty and the love of God for all God has made, including our queer brothers and sisters; including people of color; including the poor and the marginalized; including all those people that our current world may want to shove aside and make unimportant. This is true liberty."
Suriano did not respond to a phone call placed to the church office seeking additional comments. Neither Bougher nor anyone from the national headquarters of Moms for Liberty responded to multiple requests for comment.
"I received a call from the Park Ridge PD, saying they were coordinating with the local detectives and in contact with the Bergen County Prosecutors' Office. Threats against a religious institution require the prosecutor to be involved," the statement from the church said.
Calls to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the Park Ridge Police Department were not immediately returned.
Moms for Liberty labeled a hate group
Moms for Liberty is a nonprofit organization with more than 300 chapters across the U.S. It was formed in 2021 by Florida school board members to empower "parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government."
But last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center added chapters from Bergen, Burlington, Cape May, Morris, Ocean and Passaic counties to its "Hate Map," labeling Moms for Liberty a "far-right organization" that uses social media "to target teachers and school officials, advocate for the abolition of the Department of Education, advance a conspiracy propaganda, and spread hateful imagery and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community."
In taking issue with the designation, Bougher told NJ.com last year that her group denounces hateful rhetoric and advocates for age-appropriate curriculum.
“We advocate for the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that protects the fundamental right of parents to direct the care, upbringing and education of their children,” she told NJ.com.
Moms for Liberty has been active in North Jersey, advocating for more parental control in education in the form of book ban campaigns and curriculum amendment. It also supported candidates for school boards; in 2023, eight of 20 Moms for Liberty-endorsed candidates won seats in Morris County, while parental rights candidates lost in Sparta, Basking Ridge and Westwood Regional in Bergen County.
'Publicly attacked for who we are'
The message from the Park Ridge First Congressional United Church of Christ struck a defiant tone: "We have been publicly attacked for who we are, and if you have anger as a reaction to it, that is a good thing."
The church also said the posting was "meant to make us afraid" and that the last few months have brought "a constant attack on many things, including the LGBTQ+ community, whose lives, livelihood and happiness are under attack daily."
"The bravest thing to do is to show up," the church's statement continued. "For some of us, that might be too much to ask, so if you are caught up in fear, join us tomorrow online for worship. We are, however, still holding in-person worship and if you are up for it, as a sign of solidarity, please come."
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If you don't think there is anything wrong with this behavior by the absolutely VILE Eva Braun Bougher Barbie, and her caravan of Hate-Mommies, then there is something really wrong with you. Not sure how this horrifying woman was bred in Bergen county, but from what I can from my little late night rabbit hole, and from her proud fairly open social media she's a Park Ridge lifer and so is her equally vile husband. Clearly they aren't the most worldly. I did hear she was a troubled teen so this all tracks.
I just don't understand the motivation, aside from having nothing better to do, to spend your time being hateful and targeting people who just want to live their lives and go to church. I'm not fan of organized religion but at least this church is an all inclusive environment.
Also- this story and her name is on Reddit now. I don't know, unless you have money for a real security team, who would put that kind of target on you and your family's back? I understand being undereducated, and then being ripe because of that undereducation, to be indoctrinated into a cult- so she really believes she's doing some kind of Lord's work and all, but with all the crazy out there- you want to be known as the head of Klanned Karenhood?
It's kind of ironic, no? Calling yourselves Moms for "Liberty". As in, liberty for whom? Liberty only if it fits with your narrowminded bigoted narrative? If you're part of Moms for Liberty, let alone the head of it- that's all I need to know about you. I hope your parents are proud that you're head of a hate group?
Girl, go get a real job. Looking for trashy fashion choices of flag bikinis and Trump swim trunks for the hubs isn't a job. Or a good use of your time. Better yet- if you want so much control over education, home school your kids so your time is filled and no one else has to deal with you. You can even set aside electives like goose stepping class. Maybe, also, school yourself on what different flags actually mean instead of just making stuff up. I mean, right now, the red white and blue one you have draped all over you in every photo pretty much stands for sexual assault and felonies, taking from the poor, sick, old, disabled, and veterans.
Since I doubt you graduated anything except maybe shopping at Mad Rag, reading Mein Kampf as a beach entertainment, harassing innocent people and trying to get books banned, I love for you that you deleted your pedophelia flag post thinking that it wouldn't live forever in screenshots and technology memory. It will be such a delight for you to get charged like your favorite big orange twice impeached sexually assaulting felony daddy. If I had candles to blow out, that's what I'd wish for. You and everyone in your hate group are star spangled stains on humanity.
