Greenwich Patriots, group behind ‘Stand Up’ signs, ‘Truth Truck,’ urges parents to speak out
GREENWICH — A recently formed group of political activists remains shrouded in mystery, despite its apparent involvement in several high-profile protests on a wide range of topics: wearing masks, vaccinating children and teaching critical race theory. The group, Greenwich Patriots, would not confirm its involvement, but the group appears to take credit on a crowdfunding page for the “Stand Up Greenwich” signs, which were put up throughout town, and for the “Truth Truck,” which has driven
around Greenwich and Stamford bearing slogans such as “Wake Up,” and “Wait for Clinical Trial Results in 2023 Before You Join the Experiment in 2021.”
The site also describes a Flag Day Rally on June 14 at Town Hall, though the Greenwich Police Department said it has received no request for permits to hold an event.
Reached via email, the group provided a statement.
“Greenwich Patriots formed from a shared desire to protect medical freedom for our children, and to protect our children from ideological driven curriculum ,” the statement said. “We value truth, freedom and privacy. We are also aware of the potential for retaliation against those who offer criticism in the current environment, and have offered to help anonymously connect people in the community in order to effect change.”
The group did not respond to a request for more information about its members or its leadership structure.
The signs, which say “Stand Up Greenwich, Unmask Our Children, Ban Critical Race Theory, Protect Medical Freedom,” urge people to attend the June 17 meeting of the Board of Education. They echo points made in recent school board meet“Popular: ings by parents upset at lessons in Greenwich classes on race in America, white privilege and feminism, as well as the use of Greenwich schools as sites for vaccination clinics, a practice encouraged by the state Department of Education.
Donors to the group could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
In two separate efforts, Greenwich Patriots has raised more than $5,000 in the last month from more than 30 donors. Some of that funding will go to keeping the “Truth Truck” on the road, according to its GoGetFunding site.
Some of the funding will help to purchase “medical freedom-oriented yard signs, anti-CRT marketing materials, flyers and posters for rallies, flags and pocket constitutions for giveaways at our Flag Day Rally, Greenwich Patriots Newsletter, (and) other projects coming soon!”
Signs everywhere
One of the Greenwich Patriots’ crowd-sourcing pages features a series of photographs of the “Stand Up Greenwich” signs, a flyer for the June 14 “Medical Freedom Rally,” and images of other protest posters that Greenwich resident Jackie Homan took to the May 20 Board of Education meeting.
Homan did not respond when asked why her posters were on the Greenwich Patriots’ site. She also did not respond when asked whether she was a member of the group.
But she alleged via email that the posters, which she set up outside of Central Middle School on May 20, where the school board was set to meet, were thrown out by school staff at the order of Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones.
“I set up the posters almost an hour prior to the meeting, then sat on a bench across the driveway to chat with a friend, and to observe the reaction to content GPS deemed ‘thought-provoking,’ ” Homan said. “Through a police investigation, I learned the fate of my posters — straight to the dumpster rather than placed in the lost & found. I have requested reimbursement from Toni Jones, but she has refused.”
Greenwich Police confirmed they received a report of sign theft on school grounds on May 20.
On Wednesday, Jones said via email that she did not see the signs but heard about them and, learning that they had not been approved by the district, asked that they be removed. According to Jones, she did not ask for the posters to be thrown away.
“The parent reported the posters as stolen to Greenwich Police Department, and the district shared that they were removed after they were left unattended for almost one hour,” Jones said.
Questions on curriculum
Homan said she brought at least 10 posters to the meeting, at which she also spoke. The posters called out classroom materials that have been derided by many, including a video shown to a second grade class that addresses physical and emotional abuse and includes a cartoon image of a man with an erect penis; a journalistic article, containing explicit language, on toxic masculinity called “The Miseducation of the American Boy;” and a white privilege survey given to middle school students.
The posters also gave new examples of allegedly problematic classroom materials, including the young adult bestseller Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek,” which was dubbed on Homan’s sign “a demoralizing book for a 9th grade boy.”
“A girl is mentioned in her underthings, no sexual innuendo,” Homan’s sign says. “A minor girl is nude in a non-sexual scene; adults kiss; teen pregnancy is mentioned to be an issue; a mother talks to her daughter about sanitary pads and tampons; a girl refers to something as ‘sexy and chic’; a strip club is mentioned with no detail; a class is taught about sex in several scenes with some brief talk about the logistics of sex; a boy is mentioned to ‘come out’; a minor couple is mentioned to make out; a nude little sister (toddler) is mentioned to dance.”
Her frustration over the removal of the posters has been compounded by the alleged disappearance of the Stand Up Greenwich signs, which Homan said have been slowly removed over the last several days.
Homan said the signs did not belong to her, but that she was aware of an “anonymous project to place 100 of the signs throughout Greenwich.” Greenwich police confirmed they had received one report of stolen signs Wednesday, but did not provide the name of the person who submitted the complaint.
“I have only seen a handful still standing, and know many people are frustrated about the brazen theft of these signs,” Homan said. “Sure puts a damper on free speech, doesn’t it?”
School board member Peter Sherr, who was censured by his colleagues in March, has since spoken both about violations of his free speech rights and the need to restrict allegedly inappropriate classroom materials. On Wednesday, Sherr said he didn’t know the origins of the signs, or of the Greenwich Patriots group, but that he expected a long list of parents to speak at the June 17 meeting.
“Allowing issues to fester is not healthy for the school community,” Sherr said. “It’s not healthy for the town.”