School board elections are normally pretty uneventful, with the focus being on local issues. This year, however, has been a sharp departure from the norm. Many school board races in 2021 have involved fighting (sometimes literally) over issues such as mask mandates and critical race theory.
Of all the US states, Idaho comes in last place when it comes to funding for K-12 schools. Idaho is also home to one of the nation’s more tumultuous school board races. It is centered on candidate Dave Reilly, a fairly recent transplant to Post Falls, Idaho who does not have children in the Post Falls school district. Reilly, who has already run afoul of a school district in Pennsylvania, has said: “parents are being stripped of our God-given duty to raise and educate our children as voicing our concerns over the curriculum being taught to them in school is being outlawed across the nation.”
In August 2017, the Berwick School District in Pennsylvania severed its relationship with the radio station Reilly worked at, after reports came out that Reilly had attended the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. According to the The Daily Beast:
“While at the event, Reilly recorded a video of white supremacists marching by torchlight and uploaded the footage to his personal website, where he set the footage to music. His attendance soon sparked outrage from his Pennsylvania community, where local schools and businesses dropped ties with his radio station. Reilly soon resigned, issuing a statement that condemned racism.
Although he now claims to have attended Unite The Right as a member of the media, foes on the right and left have questioned his account. In the days after the deadly rally, Reilly told Newswatch 16 that he had attended the event as a private citizen, not in his professional capacity with the radio station. During a feud between far-right factions last spring, the former leader of white nationalist Richard Spencer’s think tank told a white nationalist website that he had met Reilly at Unite The Right and on other occasions, and that he believed Reilly to be a member of the alt-right movement.”
Though Reilly has no felony convictions, he did plead guilty to disorderly conduct (engaging in fighting) in 2012, in addition to pleading guilty to one count of theft of services.
He eventually moved to Idaho where he attended another rally--this one in honor of President Donald Trump. It took place on January 6 of this year and was organized by the North Idaho Freedom Fighters. At one point during the event, Reilly reportedly cried out, “They’re in D.C. storming the Capitol.” The largely maskless crowd responded with cheers.
Also during the rally, Reilly threw some shade at Vice President Mike Pence.“Mike Pence just released a letter saying he’s not going to do what he’s supposed to do,” Reilly declared. Predictably, a few shouts of “traitor” erupted from the crowd.
There have been accusations that Reilly has deleted a massive amount of tweets from his Twitter account. The following is a sampling of quotes attributed to him:
Not surprisingly, there’s been push back. Michelle Lippert, a retired professor of Philosophy at North Idaho College and current school board member, is concerned about the impact on North Idaho schools if Reilly is elected. “I’ve read pieces he’s written. I’ve seen his tweets. I’ve listened to podcasts that he’s participated in and it’s clear that he’s very anti-Semitic, he is misogynistic, homophobic, and he has an appreciation of white supremacy,” Lippert said.
“We have LGBTQ students in our district, what would happen to them? I’ve lived here for 30 years and I remember what it was like when the Aryan Nations were here, and the kind of division that was created. I don’t want to see that happen. I’m afraid–I’m afraid for our community. I’m afraid for our schools and I’m afraid for our children,” she added.
One of Reilly’s opponents in the school board race, Jacob Dawson, issued this statement:
“My focus is not on my opponent. However, my focus is on the success of our schools and students, and as mentioned, making sure all stakeholders have a voice and know they will be heard. Keeping the school board position non-partisan and avoiding political social agendas within our schools is important to me.”
The local GOP, on the other hand, endorsed him.
Reilly attends Immaculate Conception Church in Post Falls and is a member of its Holy Name Society. The church played a role in Reilly meeting his wife, Melissa, as they were introduced by mutual friends who attend the church. Immaculate Conception Church is part of The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group of priests and bishops with no official canonical status in the church. It is active in 33 countries.
The large international order was founded by the late French archbishop, Marcel-François Lefebvre, in 1970. The Vatican has tried to coax SSPX back into the Catholic mainstream, but to no avail. SSPX continues with antisemitism and Holocaust denial and spurns attempts at reconciliation by the Catholic Church.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Lefebvre’s view’s were hard right. During World War II, Lefebvre supported the pro-Nazi Vichy regime and lamented the eventual liberation of France, viewing it as, "the victory of Freemasonry against the Catholic order of Petain. It was the invasion of the barbarians without faith or law!"
The Angelus, a monthly SSPX publication, features radical antisemitic content. For example, an article by SSPX priests Michael Crowdy and Kenneth Novak, that calls for locking Jews into ghettos because "Jews are known to kill Christians," was published on SSPX's website. The article also blames Jews for the French Revolution, communism and capitalism and suggests a Judeo-Masonic conspiracy destroyed the Catholic Church. It describes Judaism as "inimical to all nations," according to the SPLC.
Another example of the radical content published by the SSPX is a 1959 letter from Lefebvre's close friend, Bishop Gerald Sigaud, who joined Lefebvre in repudiating the Vatican II reforms. "Money, the media, and international politics are for a large part in the hands of Jews," Bishop Sigaud said. "Those who have revealed the atomic secrets of the USA were … all Jews. The founders of communism were Jews."
American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter, Mel Gibson, whose infamous 2006 antisemitic diatribe is said to have been inspired by traditionalist Catholic theology. Gibson, when pulled over by Los Angeles sheriff's deputies on suspicion of drunk driving said, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." He then asked the arresting officer: "Are you a Jew?"
In recent years in churches affiliated with SSPX, there has been a conviction for child rape, investigations into sexual abuse by clergy and a fine for Holocaust denial. Further, as stated by the SPLC, “the radical traditionalist Catholics, who reject the teachings of the modern papacy, may form America's largest group of anti-Semites.”
Despite all of this, the Society of Saint Pius X denies all accusations of antisemitism. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?