Followers of right-wing forum Libs of TikTok harass a Tosa first-grade educator for teaching pronouns at past job

A first-grade teacher in the Wauwatosa School District has been subject to a variety of threats and online harassment after the account Libs of TikTok posted an out-of-context picture of the teacher with a mug that says "ask me about my pronouns."

Teacher Jake Daggett had posted the photo on Instagram in 2021 — while he was a teacher at Stellar Elementary, part of the Carmen Schools system in Milwaukee. The post said, “We had a great pronoun discussion today," with a photo of himself holding the mug.

Libs of TikTok is a popular right-wing forum that routinely reposts content, usually liberal in nature, to its followers. This often results in the original poster of the content being harassed by right-wing enthusiasts.

The Libs of TikTok July 18 post took lines from Daggett's original Instagram post and tagged the Wauwatosa School District, suggesting that is where the discussion took place.

Within hours of Libs of TikTok's post on social media platforms, Daggett became the subject of homophobic comments, calls for his firing and even death threats. The post also spread to far-right forums such as Patriots.win, a popular website and Reddit forum.

The stream of threats and harassment became so overwhelming that Daggett, who runs popular Instagram and TikTok accounts where he showcases learning techniques and the everyday lives of teachers, said he was taking a brief break from social media.

“This is the worst it has ever been. I'm going to have to stop reading the comments as things have become threatening. I'll be taking some time away,” Daggett said in an Instagram post.

The situation grew to such an extent that tagging the Wauwatosa School District on Twitter was disabled.

In response to the comments directed towards Daggett, various teaching accounts and Wauwatosa area residents rushed to provide support for the teacher with their own posts on social media.

How did the Wauwatosa School District respond?

The Wauwatosa School District acknowledged the situation in a statement posted on Twitter. The statement explained that Daggett was only recently hired and will start as a teacher at Underwood Elementary School in the 2022-23 school year. Daggett's post was made before he was a teacher in the district, the post noted.

The post also said that a district committee is determining "grade-level appropriate essential outcomes as it relates to Human Growth and Development." The post clarified that "the teaching of pronouns is not aligned with the essential outcomes that currently exist ... for first grade."

The school district added that it supports diversity among students and teachers in their schools but offered no direct support for Daggett in the publicly shared statement.

In a personal statement, Wauwatosa Schools Superintendent Demond Means spoke in support of Daggett, as well as the principal at Underwood Elementary School.

“The negativity that both Mr. Daggett and his principal have received nationally definitely does not represent the values of our school district. We stand in full support of these two outstanding educators,” Means said. "As superintendent, I confidently speak for our school community in welcoming Mr. Daggett to the Wauwatosa School District. He is a highly qualified, caring and experienced teacher. We are fortunate to have him join our team, as our students will greatly benefit from his expertise."

Daggett also released a statement on Instagram and Twitter expressing his gratitude for those who defended him. He affirmed his intentions in the original post and as a teacher.

“As I have said for four years on this account, no human is more valuable than another,” Daggett also added, “no human is too young to practice acceptance and empathy.”

Daggett declined an interview for this story, saying he was advised by the Wauwatosa School District to defer all inquiries to the district' communication specialist Sarah Frittitta.

Beck Andrew Salgado can be reached at 512-568-4070 or Bsalgado@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Beck_Salgado.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Followers of right-wing forum Libs of TikTok, harass new Tosa teacher