{"id":1389051,"date":"2022-03-18T15:59:14","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T19:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1389051"},"modified":"2022-03-18T20:00:27","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T00:00:27","slug":"sociopaths-school-board-stares-blankly-as-grieving-mom-talks-about-sons-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sociopaths-school-board-stares-blankly-as-grieving-mom-talks-about-sons-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Sociopaths\u2019: School Board Stares Blankly As Grieving Mom Talks About Son\u2019s Suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsociopaths-school-board-stares-blankly-as-grieving-mom-talks-about-sons-suicide%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1389051&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Nineteen-year-old Robert Walsh died by suicide on June 29, 2021. Closed schools, widespread mask requirements, and the influence of Critical Race Theory contributed to his death, his mother Cynthia Walsh told The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>Robert was a member of the Chantilly High School class of 2020 in Fairfax, Virginia, when schools shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic. He had autism, and needed access to a counselor. \u201cThey had one he could talk to online, but it\u2019s not the same. He\u2019d just stop talking after five minutes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>She told The Daily Wire that her son found joy in computers, including 3-D printing, but online classes amounted to simply letting \u201ceveryone pass,\u201d rather than identifying who needed extra help. In place of academics, she said, the Fairfax County Public Schools had a constant focus on race and oppression.<\/p>\n<p>Robert had \u201ctriggers\u201d because of his autism, Cynthia said. \u201cHe needed reminders that he was a valuable person. But what they hear in every class is just the opposite: that if you\u2019re black you\u2019re oppressed, and if you\u2019re white you\u2019re an oppressor.\u201d This created an atmosphere of pessimism and despondency that her son could pick up on, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Several months after the beginning of the pandemic, he graduated without fanfare.\u00a0\u201cHis graduation was a drive-through graduation. No prom, no graduation. None of the events kids have. It was supposed to be six weeks to slow the spread. But he never got to say goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image\"><\/div>\n<h2>\u201cThey talk about \u2018white fragility,\u2019 that you\u2019re too weak for things. Well, he died.\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cHe was empathetic. He felt people\u2019s emotions. He needed to hear over and over again that he was a good person,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Robert\u2019s twin brother went off to college, but government policies left Robert behind, she said. He was going to have an internship with the Fairfax government, but the government closed its offices.<\/p>\n<p>Then there were mask policies. His fallback plan was to work in retail, but \u201che had a speech impediment as it was, and when he wore a mask you just couldn\u2019t understand him \u2026 he would have to talk to customers and they couldn\u2019t understand him through the mask. And that was a trigger for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For months, Cynthia had wanted to tell the Fairfax County School Board how she believes these policies contributed to his death. She put it off because it was too hard. \u201cI finally said, \u2018if I don\u2019t say it now, I never will.\u2019 I\u2019m relieved that I said it. I just wrote what I was feeling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>On March 10, she spoke during the public comment period of a school board meeting. Choking back tears, she told its members:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>My son Robert took his life because he thought that all of the oppression was his fault. There were times he felt excluded because he had to use electives for speech therapy. His expressive language would be even worse while wearing a mask. You need to be inclusive to every student. Be inclusive to those who have special needs or not. Be inclusive to those who are masked or unmasked, vaccinated or unvaccinated. Every race, every life, every student matters. No one wants you to stop teaching black history. But please do not do it in a way that makes his life worth any less. My son was not responsible for everyone\u2019s problems. His success does not mean anyone else had to fail. His life mattered. He was important and valued. His emotional disability led him to the conclusion that any success he had, he did not deserve. Robert deserves more. Rest in peace. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Parents in the auditorium stood up to give her a standing ovation, recognizing her grief. Some in the crowd had visibly watery eyes. As she returned to her seat, moms she had never met embraced her.<\/p>\n<p>But not the school board. Its members stared blankly ahead, showing no reaction.<\/p>\n<p>Their response? \u201cThank you. Our next speaker.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_356912\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-356912\" class=\"wp-image-356912\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"784\" height=\"728\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert3.jpg 1972w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert3-300x279-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert3-620x576-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert3-768x713-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert3-1536x1427-1.jpg 1536w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-356912\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cynthia Walsh \/ The Daily Wire<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Daily Wire was in attendance at the meeting and observed no emotion on the faces of any of the nine school board members who were present \u2014 though some wore masks, making reading emotions difficult.<\/p>\n<p>Ying \u201cJulia\u201d McCaskill, a mother who was attending her first school board meeting in-person that night, saw the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast week was the first time I actually went there in person, and I could see their faces. It was just so disrespectful to the speakers. They roll their eyes or shrug,\u201d she told The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey don\u2019t have any expression. When the mother was talking about her son and her voice was trembling, we stood up to support her. When she was walking away, we went up to give her a hug and say \u2018I\u2019m so sorry\u2019 and things like that. They\u2019re just like \u2018next speaker.\u2019 No giving a moment of silence, nothing like that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSociopaths is the word I think describes them,\u201d she added, saying speaking before a school board is like talking to a \u201cbrick wall,\u201d and it is clear residents\u2019 concerns fall on \u201cdeaf ears.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the meeting, the county NAACP\u2019s education chair, Sujatha Hampton \u2014 who is also a Fairfax government official \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SujathaHampton\/status\/1504048228060352516\">claimed<\/a> on Twitter that Walsh was \u201cnot being truthful\u201d and provided \u201cfalse testimony.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-356913\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"797\" height=\"766\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert2-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert2-300x288-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert2-600x576-1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert2-768x738-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert2-1536x1475-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/robert2-2048x1967-1.jpg 2048w\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Hampton retweeted a Twitter thread from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/deonteleologist\/status\/1503768477076656133\">Sam Hoadley-Brill<\/a>, a fellow at the African American Policy Forum, which is led by Kimberle Crenshaw, the founder of Critical Race Theory, that called the grieving mother \u201cbats***,\u201d and said she was \u201ccynically lying for her own gain.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>A county NAACP official said of people who questioned school policies, \u201cLet them die.\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>The reaction seemed to fulfill a declaration made by another Fairfax County NAACP official, Michelle Leete \u2014 who was vice president of both the county NAACP and the PTA \u2014 who said of people who questioned school policies, \u201cLet them die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s deny this off-key band of people that are anti-education, anti-teacher, anti-equity, anti-history, anti-racial reckoning\u2026 Let them die,\u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/pta-naacp-official-let-them-die-critical-race-theory\">said<\/a> on July 16 \u2014 two weeks after Robert\u2019s death \u2014 as top county Democratic officials cheered.<\/p>\n<p>Of twelve school board members \u2014 all Democrats \u2014 nine were present during her speech. The Daily Wire asked each of them about their reactions, what they had done to reach out to the grieving mother afterward, and whether they had considered her points. Their reactions are below.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ricardy Anderson (D)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sat silently with no visible emotion<\/li>\n<li>Did not respond to request for comment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Melanie Meren (D)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sat silently with no visible emotion<\/li>\n<li>Did not respond to request for comment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Elaine Tholen (D)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sat silently with no visible emotion<\/li>\n<li>Did not respond to request for comment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Tamara Derenak Kaufax (D)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sat silently with no visible emotion<\/li>\n<li>Did not respond to request for comment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Rachna Sizemore Heizer (D)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sat silently with no visible emotion<\/li>\n<li>Did not respond to request for comment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Stella Pekarsky (D)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sat silently with no visible emotion<\/li>\n<li>Did not respond to request for comment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Laura Jane Cohen (D)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sat silently with no visible emotion<\/li>\n<li>Did not respond to request for comment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Abrar Omeish (D)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sat silently with no visible emotion<\/li>\n<li>Did not respond to request for comment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Karen Corbett Sanders (D)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sat silently with no visible emotion<\/li>\n<li>Did not respond to request for comment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a free hotline for individuals in crisis or distress or for those looking to help someone else. It is available 24\/7 at 1-800-273-8255.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Luke Rosiak is the author of the book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Race-Bottom-Uncovering-Destroying-Education\/dp\/0063056720\/\">Race To the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is building up its investigative reporting team to bring you the stories the legacy media refuse to cover. Support journalism that matters and join one of the fastest-growing conservative media companies in America by becoming a Daily Wire member <a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">today<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nineteen-year-old Robert Walsh died by suicide on June 29, 2021. Closed schools, widespread mask requirements, and the influence of Critical Race Theory contributed to his death, his mother Cynthia Walsh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1389051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1389051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1389051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1389051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1389051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}