A local Moms for Liberty chapter in Pennsylvania became the first to sever ties with the national organization, as its co-founder’s husband, Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler, faces rape allegations.
The Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, chapter cited Christian Ziegler’s ongoing scandal as a ... [+]
The Moms for Liberty chapter in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, announced it was breaking from the national organization following the rape allegations against co-founder Bridget Ziegler’s husband, Christian.
Police in Sarasota opened a rape investigation against Ziegler in October after a woman reported the Republican politician raped her after she cancelled a planned consensual sexual encounter with the couple, according to an affidavit obtained by the Miami Herald.
According to the affidavit, Bridget Ziegler confirmed to investigators that she “had a sexual encounter with the victim and Christian over a year ago.”
Northumberland County’s chair, Clarissa Paige, told Forbes the national organization’s “controversies and lack of assistance posed more obstacles than aid.”
In an interview with local paper the News-Item, Paige cited the allegations against Christian Ziegler as a primary factor in choosing to part ways with the national organization.
The chapter is in the process of being re-founded as a new organization “embracing our self-reliance and unwavering commitment,” Paige said—the national organization has not returned a request for comment about the chapter’s defection.
Moms for Liberty was founded in 2021 by three current and former conservative school board members in Florida, including Bridget Ziegler, who is a board member of the Sarasota County schools. Moms for Liberty grew nationally, and quickly became controversial, as it opposed mask and vaccine mandates in schools and campaigned for bans on books related to topics such as LGBTQ rights and critical race theory. Local chapters have sprung up across 45 states, running candidates in local school board elections on promises that include banning pride flags, restricting gender expression, and removing “woke” content from school curricula.
The investigation into Ziegler was made public in November, but the GOP chair has denied the allegations and resisted calls to resign from his position. “We have a country to save and I am not going to let false allegations of a crime put that mission on the bench as I wait for this process to wrap up,” Ziegler wrote in an email obtained by the Associated Press. Since news of the investigation broke in November, a growing number of Florida politicians have called for Ziegler to resign, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott, both Republicans.