Two hidden Facebook hate groups called Outspoken and FH Council Watchers, composed of officials and progressive activists in Arizona’s very red town of Fountain Hills, have been coordinating to attack and doxx conservatives, while insulting the Christian religion. Fountain Hills is a conservative enclave, voting for Donald Trump for president over Joe Biden by over 20 points in 2020.
Fountain Hills Council Member Allen Skillicorn, who was attacked in the groups, told me, "If the allegations of doxing and hateful comments about community members in a secret Facebook are true, all elected officials in this secret Facebook group need to immediately resign from office,” he said. “That would be a major violation of the public trust and in some cases could violate the Arizona Open Meeting Law or stalking Laws. I look forward to seeing the results of an investigation."
During 2020 to 2022, four town council members were active in Outspoken. Arizona open meeting law requires the public to be allowed to observe interactions when a quorum of a public body is together if discussing work-related topics. The group sought information about parents who testified at town council meetings.
A source provided multiple screenshots from the group. One member doxxed the conservative Earle family. A member asked for information related to where Republican precinct committeewoman Ashley Earle lives. Amy Arnold, an administrator in the group, responded and provided an address for Earle. Fountain Hills Mayor Ginny Dickey, who has a history of Democrat activism, hit like on Arnold’s response with the address, approving of the doxxing.
Member Don Scott also posted personal information in the group about Earle, including her phone number. He linked to her personal website, stating, “Ashley Earle and the far-right family.” He posted screenshots of her reposting an effort to recall the mayor. Several members of the group hit like on the doxxing.
A police report was filed with the Scottsdale Police Department, which was blown off. Gayle Earle is running for town council.
In another post, Scott derogatorily included images of Christ’s Church of Fountain Hills, its pastor, and a message from the church stating their gratitude for participating in the TPUSA Pastors Summit in Nashville.
Dickey responded criticizing the summit with a link to scripture, Matthew 6:1-6, which begins, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.”
A member pasted a message he said he’d sent to a reporter. In it, he referred to councilmembers Skillicorn, Hannah Toth, and Tony Pierce, who is pastor of Cornerstone Family Church, as “Christian nationalist[s].” He stated accusingly that Toth works for Turning Point USA.
Arnold responded to one comment, “He is a member of the Baptist Church, not Christ’s Church. They are both evil.”
Member Ciel Villa-Watkins posted regarding Christianity, “Christ’s Church is one of the strictest, fundamentalist denomination. They are worst than the Southern Baptists.” [sic]
In another post, Arnold wished for fewer Christians. She posted a news article about the shrinking number of Christians in England, and said, “Hopefully the US will be next.”
Arnold asked in another post, “Have they banned the Bible yet? It’s a very violent book.” Dickey and several others hit like on her post.
In FH Council Watchers, a member posted an article about the National Day of Prayer held in Fountain Hills. Member Cindy Couture responded, “Sad. Just sad.”
A member posted screenshots of a debate he was having with Pierce over Christianity. Couture responded, “Straight from the philosophy of the Puritans! I’d be furious if my religion hadn’t changed with society. Do they burn witches, too?”
Member Dianne Price responded, “Cindy Couture, maybe we could recite this next time our coven shows up at a council meeting.” She pasted a long witches spell into her post.
Member Philip Edward Dietz posted, “Serious question: does religion make people stupid or is it just that stupid people can’t leave the nonsense behind and grow up?” Arnold hit like on it.
In a post, member Rachel Benkowski said, “The Bible is a fictional book about various hallucinations and witchcraft written by ancient people that’s been irresponsibly translated hundreds of times into numerous languages for various political ploys.”
Member Starr Bothwell Bielas shared a post from someone that said, “It’s so weird how children are too young to know anything about their own gender or orientation but old enough to understand eternal conscious torment and substitutionary atonement and make a lifelong permanent commitment to Christianity. Someone should look into that.”
Outspoken was created by far left activist Sherri James on November 24, 2015. Dickey was added November 25, 2015, as the fourth member. Dickey invited 78 people to join the group.
Dickey upset conservatives in Fountain Hills by supporting a Green New Deal type of plan for the town. She previously served as a staffer for the Arizona Senate Democrats, and is former executive director of Arizona List, a PAC to elect pro-abortion Democrat women.
These types of secret Facebook groups have popped up around the country. In Virginia, the Loudon Love Warriors group, which included staffers from several local governmental offices, doxxed and threatened violence and retaliation against several concerned parents who spoke up at school board meetings. One parent said he was fired after the activists pressured his employer. Another Loudoun County resident, Mark Winn, was threatened after he quoted a verse from the Bible in a speech before the school board. The group circulated a petition to ban “hate speech” and said they would get him fired, despite the fact his wife was suffering stage four cancer.
Unfortunately, little is being done to expose and investigate these groups due to how powerful the public officials are. Perhaps some sunlight will change this situation. The legality of revealing the posts of a private Facebook group was addressed by an Arizona court last year. U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver held that since members of the public could join the private Facebook groups Ahwatukee411 and Protecting Arizona's Resources & Children, and since the admins controlled the posts, not the anonymous person who leaked the posts, the anonymous person did not violate the plaintiff’s privacy nor the Federal Wiretap Act and the Stored Communications Act.
Prominent members of the Outspoken group include State Senator Mitzi Epstein (D-Tempe), Fountain Hills Town Council Members Peggy McMahon and Sharron Grzybowski, FHUSD School Board President Jill Reed, Fountain Hills Democrats Chair Dave Long former FHUSD School Board President Wendy Barnard and FHUSD School Board Member Lillian Acker.