Loudoun County “activist” Facebook group contains death threats against parents opposed to LGBT ideology

A Loudon County, Virginia Facebook group is being investigated after members allegedly made death threats against parents who spoke against LGBT ideology at local school board meetings.

“The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) has opened an investigation into potential threats made within the ‘Loudoun Love Warriors’ Facebook group, following a citizen complaint today,” the Loudon County Sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The group is reportedly a “grassroots” group of “activists” that formed shortly after last year’s Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The group’s attention eventually shifted to local school board issues as an opportunity for “political activism.”

“We kind of just turned it into this political activism chat where we talked about the different things we could do, different events that were coming up. And we talked about the school board,” said group member Heather Gottlieb.

According to multiple Loudon County citizens, the “activism” the group encouraged involved threats of violence and campaigns to ruin the livelihoods of people who disagreed with LGBT ideology being taught in Loudon County schools.

One such citizen who targeted was Mark Winn, who referenced a Bible verse at a December 2022 board meeting.

After his comments, a staffer for county attorney Buta Biberaj commented in the group that Winn’s employer should be contacted in an effort to “ruin his livelihood.” 

Other comments in the group regarding Winn include: 

• “Mark Winn. I’m gonna find his employer.” 
• “And holding that company accountable until he is fired.” 
• “Lets make him unemployable by love or by force.” 
• “Wish I had footage of every person who clapped for him and give them the same ousting that Winn is about to.” 
• “I want to contact his employer to do just that. Ruin his livelihood.”
• “Say goodbye to your job f—– [middle finger emoji].”
• “I want every single person who clapped for that ousted en masse and their livelihoods ruined:).” 

Winn, who learned of these messages during an interview with ABC affiliate 7News, said he was “shocked” by the content. He added that he never imagined receiving any threats for what he said in December. 

Winn was not the only person targeted by the group. Loudon County parent Scott Mineo lost his job after Gottlieb reached out to his employer. 

“They went after my job,” Mineo said. “That happened in early February. They referred me to the FBI, IRS, and DHS all because they don’t like my opinion. They’re probably going to sit back and celebrate the fact that I’m unemployed. …But they’ve done more than just put me out of a job. It’s impacting my family, my kids.” 

Gottlieb defended her actions to 7News Reporter Nick Minock, claiming that if someone contacted her employer and made allegations and got her fired, that “would be fine.” 

Other threats made in the Facebook group reportedly include: 

• “Lives needs to be ruined beyond repair.” 
• “Lets actually destroy them. Grind them.”  
• “If he had said that s— about black kids or autistic kids I would shoot him.” 
• “His life needs to be PERMANENTLY disassembled.” 
• “We REALLY need to find this guy.” 

“My reaction to the what are they calling themselves – ‘the Love Warriors Group’ – there’s nothing but hate in that group,” said Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in response to reports about the death threats. 

“From what I’m understanding, if the reports are true, and I don’t react to it as lieutenant governor, I react to it as a normal, sane human being, when you hear what this group is trying to do, they’re trying to destroy lives.  

“They’re going to make sure you definitely have loss of employment, you will possibly lose your life because they’re talking about [disassemble] you, and they’re also possibly going to shoot you.  

“Now remember, this is the kind of group that says they’re against guns, except I guess when they’re the ones with the guns. So, folks, we’ve got to get a grip. We’re destroying America from the inside. This is what our enemies do to us. This is not we what we do to ourselves.” 

Earle-Sears also called out a group of elected officials who were either a part of the group at the time these threats were made or were associated with active members. Many of these officials have responded with a condemnation of threats of violence, while others have declined comment. 

7News reached out to Facebook for comment about whether or not the group’s comments violated the company’s policies, but did not receive a response.