by Victoria Manning

First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach is the latest battleground for extremists targeting Turning Point USA clubs. A public records request reveals activists attempting to silence students whose views they oppose. Even the TPUSA teacher sponsor is getting doxxed on social media for being a Christian.

Activist Danna Cullen runs a large social media page in Virginia Beach. She used her platform to unleash an incoherent tirade against the teacher sponsor of the club. Cullen encouraged students opposing the TPUSA club to act as undercover investigators to find what she called “toxic Christian Nationalist goods” they could report to the media. She also called the teacher sponsor a “kook” for wearing a cross.

In response, freelance journalist Rebekah Sanderlin, who writes for the Washington Post and Huffington Post, offered to aid any student willing to infiltrate the TPUSA club as a mole. On Dec. 16, a few days after the club met, Sanderlin told Cullen: “My kid at FC [First Colonial] told me she saw a bunch of kids joining the club who definitely were not the type to join it sincerely.”

Cullen continued attacking TPUSA, declaring that it’s “a cult” that pushes “extreme racist, misogynistic, anti culture points of view.”

Emails to the Virginia Beach School Board and obtained by Restoration News reveal a small but vocal group of parents and community activists attempting to cancel the TPUSA club. One such parent, Bianca Keipe (also known as Goodman), expressed “deep concern” about the club, claiming it poses “a direct threat to teacher safety” and creates “a hostile learning environment.” Keipe blamed “TPUSA-linked rhetoric” for an attempted political assassination on a college campus. Is Keipe unaware that TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk himself was the victim of a vile political murder?

Keipe also claimed on Cullen’s Facebook page that local media asked to interview her and any other interested parents and students on the matter.

Restoration News reached out to Keipe for more details about her concerns with the club. Instead of providing answers to our simple questions, she disparaged us as “associated with harassment campaigns, intimidation tactics, and political violence.”

Mindi Friedman, a former PTA vice president in Virginia Beach and parent of a student at First Colonial, exchanged text messages with school board member Melinda Rogers. Friedman included a picture of the TPUSA club poster calling its student members “dumbasses.”

Another email sent to the school board declared that TPUSA “has a well documented history of racism, misogyny and ugly Christian nativism.” When Restoration News contacted Chris Bonney, the sender of the message, he was unable to provide any primary source documentation for these assertions. He alleged, referring to TPUSA, that there wasn’t “an organization aside from perhaps the Ku Klux Klan, that is more out of touch with the teachings of Christianity.”

It’s incredulous that anyone continues to parrot the same rhetoric that led to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Especially when that rhetoric is targeted at minors in a public school.

An attack on Christians

There is a clear bias in public education against Christians. While the definition of Christianity has been corrupted over the years, Merriam-Webster defines Christianity as “the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture, and professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies.” Sacred Scripture teaches in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Being a Christian isn’t something one earns. It’s given to us by God through his grace and mercy—we must only accept that grace and confess to the Lord Jesus.

God gives instructions to Christians on how to live and those instructions conflict with the ways of the world. There are values and beliefs pushed in public schools that seek to undermine Biblical principles. Yet, there is often silence when it comes to defending Christian students against these violations of their faith. Instead, extremists like those attacking the TPUSA club get louder and sometimes violent.

The TPUSA Club America formed at First Colonial High School is a nonprofit that seeks to “educate young people about the importance of limited government, free markets and freedom.” The club’s mission doesn’t even mention anything about religion, yet it is being vilified for its founder’s belief in Jesus and Biblical values.

In Virginia Beach, district policy permits student clubs to form if they get proper permissions and have a teacher sponsor.

Some of the same people decrying the TPUSA club support a Students Demand Action club at the same school. This group opposes second amendment gun rights, and it not only holds regular meetings, but it pushes activism during school hours. In September, leftist school board member Melinda Rogers participated in a student walkout with the club. Imagine the leftist outrage if a conservative school board member took part in this type of activism with a club like TPUSA.

Until this year, when they lost their teacher sponsor, the Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) club was very active at the school. They frequently promoted events during school such as “draw your own pride flag” in “honor of Aromantic Awareness Week” and gay pride month celebrations.

Even though the GSA publicly promoted messaging in opposition to the religious views of Christian students during the school day, there wasn’t a push to prohibit the club.

Even after the violent political assassination of Charlie Kirk, these continued attacks against TPUSA are a continued reminder that leftists don’t care if conservatives die. That was evident when they celebrated Charlie’s death. Still—we must all stand up to protect those willing to speak truth about our nation—especially those on the battle lines in public schools.

Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, immigration, and military issues. This column has been republished with permission from Restoration News.