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An Iowa mother largely recognized for her vocal stance in opposition to obligatory masks insurance policies and who not too long ago went on a public rant about drag performers was arrested on Friday after allegedly submitting a false report of sexual abuse inside her former enterprise associate’s household.
Alongside the way in which, any remnants of a once-formidable alliance between girls on the vanguard of far-right activism went up in flames.
Kimberly Reicks, the 39-year-old who based the controversial activist group Iowa Mama Bears, was arrested on Friday morning on seven misdemeanor costs after allegedly making no less than two calls to the Division of Human Sources in opposition to the household of Emily Peterson.
On these calls, based on prison complaints obtained by The Every day Beast, Reicks falsely claimed Peterson’s husband broke their daughter’s cellphone—and that the Petersons’ teenage son was sexually abusing a sibling. The criticism says that within the final name on Aug. 9, Reicks “claimed to be a neighbor” who was knowledgeable of the sexual abuse allegations by her personal son, who, in flip, supposedly heard about them from a toddler sufferer within the Peterson household.
In actuality, prosecutors state, Reicks doesn’t have a son by the identify she advised DHS—and “lives on the other aspect of city” as her former associate’s household.
“Their youngsters had not been in touch for a few months at the moment,” the criticism stated.
Prosecutors say that the decision was made shortly after Peterson texted Reicks’ husband “a few lockbox key.” This allegedly prompted Reicks to textual content her former enterprise associate—and accuse her of getting an affair together with her husband.
The prison criticism notes that one other nameless name to DHS was positioned “shortly after” Peterson “ended her enterprise relationship” with Reicks in Could, “inflicting her to be very upset.”
The surprising allegations in opposition to Reicks come over a yr after she and Peterson made a reputation for themselves in far-right communities for outspoken activism in opposition to masks mandates in faculties. Describing themselves because the “Iowa Mama Bears,” the pair attended the Well being and Freedom convention in April 2021, an occasion that featured distinguished QAnon sympathizer Mike Flynn, based on Politifact. (Reicks denied being a QAnon adherent.) Through the convention, Reicks held up an indication with an image of her daughter’s face on it with the caption, “My masks brought on a staph an infection on my face 4 instances. My physique…my selection. Unmask Iowa.”
A month later, the Mama Bears had been invited to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ signing of a invoice banning all college masks orders.
Jail information present that Reicks was booked in Polk County Jail simply after 3 a.m. on Friday on two counts of kid abuse-false report, one rely of false report of indictable offense to a public entity, and 4 counts of harassment. The prison criticism additionally notes the Peterson household requested for a no-contact order in opposition to Reicks, noting that they usually attend the identical occasions.
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Reicks didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, and a Polk County clerk advised The Every day Beast that she has “been granted a public defender, however a selected one has not been appointed.”
The Petersons couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
Whereas it was not fully clear what spurred Peterson and Reicks to chop ties, the Iowa Mama Bears web site by Friday appeared to solely characteristic the latter Mama Bear. Calling herself an “unintentional activist,” Reicks says on the positioning that she “discovered herself embroiled within the battle for the rights of her youngsters” after faculties started to shut with the COVID pandemic spreading throughout the nation.
Since then, Reicks has waded into college controversies starting from COVID vaccination to LGTBQ content material. Earlier this month, she went to an Ankeny Faculty Board assembly wearing an outfit she claimed was just like one worn by an after-school drag performer. The stunt was in protest of what she tried to argue was an inappropriate show for youngsters, echoing a far-right panic about nonexistent LGTBQ threats to children bolstered by governors like Ron DeSantis.
Throughout her impassioned speech, Reicks demanded an apology for the Could efficiency hosted by Ankeny Excessive Faculty’s Homosexual Straight Alliance—and a decision “to verify this doesn’t occur once more on college grounds.”
“How are we going to entrust you—the board members—to do what is true for us dad and mom and be sure that the youngsters know what is true?” Reicks added, based on the Des Moines Register.
However based on the Polk County Legal professional’s Workplace, Reicks took surprising—and unlawful—retaliatory steps in opposition to her former pal. Prosecutors allege that the calls started in Could 2022, when DHS acquired an nameless tip about Peterson’s husband and a damaged mobile phone.
Peterson later defined to authorities that in reality, she had spoken with Reicks about an incident involving a damaged cellphone in February, and DHS in the end rejected the report “because of lack of accountable perception abuse or neglect occurred.” Prosecutors now say that Reicks knew the allegation “was false” and she or he “was attempting to harass the Peterson household.”
The criticism notes that the second name, which was positioned three months later, was additionally “deemed false.” DHS supplied the quantity and recordings of the calls to authorities, who later concluded that Reicks had made each experiences.
Reicks allegedly initially denied calling DHS final month, however “admitted it after being offered with the proof.”
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