Leftist Parent Sends Rope, Sexually Explicit Book To Threaten School Board Member
By Staff Reporter |
The vice president of the Higley Unified School Board, Anna Van Hoek, received a package with an apparent threat of violence from a leftist parent.
The package, sent from Amazon, contained a rope and a book containing sexually explicit content, “Homegoing.” Following a report from Van Hoek, Gilbert Police submitted a warrant to Amazon and identified the sender as Queen Creek mother Lindzie Head.
Head is a medical technologist (clinical lab scientist) at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center who serves on the Queen Creek Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. She previously held leadership roles with the PTO for Cortina Elementary School and Sossaman Middle School.
Van Hoek has taken stances on issues such as removing dirty books from classrooms and barring boys (identifying as transgender girls) from girls’ sports, in alliance with organizations such as Arizona Women of Action.
The package came after a high school English teacher, Brittany O’Neill, came under investigation for assigning the very book Head sent to Van Hoek, “Homegoing.” The book is a historical fiction addressing slavery that contains a number of passages depicting sex and rape, as well as abuse and drug use.
State law prevents the provision of sexually explicit books unless the materials are deemed educational, and parents give their consent. The Gilbert Police Department notified the district that it was investigating O’Neill over the assignment last month.
In that controversy, Van Hoek sided with the aggrieved parents who believe the book shouldn’t have been assigned to minors due to its content.
Van Hoek said in a statement that Head and her husband, Kyle Head, indicated to police that they have retained legal counsel.
In her statement, Van Hoek also said that she would not tolerate this threatening behavior. Van Hoek advised that she had previously endured an attack on her property: her tire was slashed during a board meeting last October.
“I want to make it unequivocally clear that I will not tolerate this kind of harassment and threats directed not only at myself but also at our district parents,” said Van Hoek. “Everyone has a right to express their concerns and speak out without fear of intimidation.”
Van Hoek also advised that another district parent had received the same sexually explicit book in an anonymous package from Head (confirmed by Gilbert Police) with the following message:
“Read the book and maybe you’ll learn something,” said Head’s message.
The same district parent who received Head’s package reported having his identifying information doxed on social media.
Van Hoek said that no additional information about the incidents could be provided due to an ongoing investigation.
These unwelcome packages appear to be the latest efforts by Head to become more civically involved.
Last May, Head participated in and graduated from the town of Queen Creek’s Citizen Leadership Institute. It was several months after this graduation that she applied for (and was given) the board member role for the Queen Creek Parks and Recreation Board.
Last October, Head wrote an opinion piece for the Daily Independent asking Congress to work in a bipartisan manner and pass the budget.
Head’s Instagram bio reads, “You can sit with me. Here to be unreasonable. Uninformed and relying on hearsay.”
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