Residents on Tuesday night, Aug. 5, called on Redlands school board member Candy Olson to resign because they said she liked several Instagram posts that they consider to have anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ+ messages.

On Monday July 28, Together for Redlands posted several screenshots from Instagram of memes from posts they said Olson liked from

During Tuesday’s meeting, Olson said her actions were on her private account and done as a private citizen. She said she has unfollowed the account.

Olson said material on the account was not something with which she wanted to be associated and said anyone with a rational mind would understand that.

“At any rate, I unfollowed them and I am moving on,” Olson said. “I am not the things that people want to pin on me.”

She said she was being targeted by “the radical progressives in this town” for supporting policies with which they don’t agree.

Olson alleged they were violating California law by doxing her nursing license and trying to get her fired from her position as a registered nurse. She alleged that foes had reported her to the state nursing board and her hospital in attempts to get her license removed and her position taken away.

Olson said she cares about students and the community and wants to bring back “quality education.”

Together for Redlands sees the situation differently.

“This behavior is not only antithetical to the values we expect from leaders in education, but it also severely undermines the trust that families, staff, and students place in the Board to ensure a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment for all,” its post states. “Schools should be sanctuaries where diversity is celebrated and every student, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation, is protected and respected.”

The other school board members did not address Olson’s social media posts.

Olson liked at least four posts that were carousels of 20 memes, images with text that’s typically humorous and often copied and spread by internet users, often with slight variations. The posts included several politically charged jokes targeting the LGBTQ+ and Jewish communities.

One of the memes showed a cartoon of Adolf Hitler shaking hands with Jesus. Another shows the bumper of a car with a rainbow of smeared colors with the words: “I just got back from a pride parade. I had a really good time.”

In an July 29 Instagram post, Olson defended herself and said the post she liked had several different memes, and the one she liked was a joke about the price of chicken eggs. Olson said she did not see the posts targeting the LGBTQ or Jewish community and did not agree with them.

“I do not subscribe to anti-Jew rhetoric or any other discriminatory accusation,” she wrote in the post.

Olson said the public can’t see the specific meme that she liked and could only see that she liked the overall post.

“This account posts hundreds of memes, many of which I find offensive but still followed them because I appreciated a hilarious political meme from time to time,” Olson wrote.

She called the accusations a campaign launched by political rivals looking to create a false narrative.

“Because I can understand the appearance of supporting poor content, I’ve unfollowed the account, like I should have a long time ago,” Olson wrote. “Those who know me, know my heart — I love anyone from every walk of life, sexual orientation, religion, or race.”

Elected in November, Olson was backed by Awaken Redlands, a conservative group that worked to put candidates in office across Redlands that “supported traditional values.” Since taking office, Olson has been accused of targeting the LGBTQ community because of her support of a parent notification policy, rules making it easier to remove library books with explicit content, and a ban on all flags in the classroom other than a military or U.S. flag.

On Tuesday, members of the public took to the podium and called on Olson to resign. They said Olson’s assertions that she inadvertently liked the post were lies.

“Candy, you are trash, and it shows in the disgusting material that you like,” Rue Whitmore said. “You are inciting violence against members of this community.”

Whitmore called it shameful that Olson was a nurse and had access to vulnerable communities. She made a profane gesture as she left the board room.

Redlands teacher Pat Molnar said the board was anti-student and said members should cover the words in their motto that address diversity and inclusion.

“History will not judge you kindly,” Molnar said.

She said it was board President Michele Rendler’s fault for allowing Olson’s behavior and said she expected better from her.

Valerie Taber, a past school board candidate, told Olson: “You are a hateful, bigoted person and I don’t think you have shame enough to resign.”

She said that Rendler and the rest of the board were responsible for holding Olson accountable by either censuring her or encouraging her to abstain from voting on controversial topics.

Samantha Trad asked Rendler if she had seen the posts, which she called hateful and indicative of Olson’s position on several topics.

“It is so evident,” Trad said. “Are you manipulated by her or do you agree with her?”

Trad said Olson was unfit for office and shouldn’t be on the dais.

A handful of speakers stood up for Olson.

Joshua Hall said those calling for Olson’s resignation are looking for censorship.

People should leave the country if they want to censor social media, Hall said. They can then post whatever they want about the LGBTQ community and would be “thrown off of roofs by Muslim immigrants.”

Audience members yelled at Hall and called Rendler and other board members spineless for not calling out Hall. He left the room as the audience called on trustees to say something.

Arthur Schaper, a member of Mass Resistance, which describes itself as a “pro-family activism” group, likened the criticism of Olson’s social media likes to the Nazi movement. He said audience members spoke against Nazi behavior but participated in it by targeting Olson for her private social media posts.

Schaper’s comments sent the crowd into an uproar. As he was leaving, a parent accused him of filming a student. A parent stood between Schaper and the student and Schaper was escorted outside by security.

Schaper said in a Wednesday, Aug. 6, email that he was taking a video of the crowd, not just the student.