The mother who forced a Florida school to ban Amanda Gorman’s poem written for the inauguration of President Joe Biden has links to far-right groups including the Proud Boys, an investigation revealed.
Daily Salinas, whose rambling complaint led The Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes to restrict access to a book version of the poem The Hill We Climb, has links to extreme far-right organizations it has been revealed.
The mother, who has two children at the school, has attended events with the Proud Boys and has posed with former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio who was convicted for his involvement in the January 6th riot. She has also posted a series of far-right and conspiratorial content on her social media profiles.
Her recent rambling complaint claims that the poem is ‘not educational and have indirectly hate messages’ which she believes incorrectly, was written by Oprah Winfrey.
Defending her actions to the Miami Herald, Salinas said she ‘is not for eliminating or censoring any books.’ but wants materials to be appropriate for students ‘to know the truth’ about Cuba.
Salinas is pictured standing next to former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio
The mother was removed from a school board meeting after protesting with Moms for Liberty
Other books that were removed from elementary age children at the school included The ABCs of Black History, which was written for ages 5 and up.
Salinas, who posted support for The Proud Boys on her Facebook page, doubled down, telling the Herald that the books should have been removed for all students.
School libraries are meant ‘to support the curriculum of the school and I don’t see how these books support the curriculum,’ she said.
In November 2022 the avid DeSantis fan attended a Proud Boys rally in support of far-right extremist Christoper Morzon, who took part in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Salinas is pictured on her social media wearing a Ron DeSantis t-shirt and hat at the event.
Just a month earlier she took part in a rally outside the Miami-Dade School Board offices with ‘Christian nationalist’ group Citizens Defending Freedom (CCDF), which is linked to Turning Point USA and Alliance Defending Freedom, the right-wing group beyond numerous anti-LGBT bills across the U.S.
Salinas also attended a protest against masks in Miami-Dade schools in August 2021 where she was photographed standing next to Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys who was convicted for his role in the January 6th riot.
Salinas was part of an intervention by Moms for Liberty at a school board meeting in July 2022, in which she protested against the use of two sex education textbooks.
She was removed by security from the event but the board later voted 5-4 to remove the books.
The rambling complaint against The Hill We Climb was filed by far-right activist Daily Salinas
The poem was written by Amanda Gorman and read at President Biden’s inauguration
Salinas’ Facebook posts, compiled by Miami Against Fascism, show a stream of right-wing and conspiratorial content
Salinas campaigned for DeSantis backed candidate Roberto Alfonso who gained a seat on the Miami Dade school board in August 2022
Salinas has been an active campaigner with the Christian nationalist group Citizens Defending Freedom
Salinas said the poem she objected to was ‘not educational and have indirectly hate messages’
Salinas has posted a stream of extreme right-wing content to her social media profiles.
In March of this year, Salinas shared a Facebook post with a series of anti-Semitic tropes about an alleged Jewish conspiracy to control the world entitled ‘The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion’.
The Hill We Climb was removed from the elementary school students after the single complaint.
Answering a question on the official form if the complainant was aware of professional reviews, Salinas wrote, ‘I don’t need it.’
She also said the aim of the poem, in her view, was to ’cause confusion and indoctrinate students.’
Gorman wrote on Facebook that she was ‘gutted’ her poem had been removed.
‘Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech,’ she wrote.
Adding that she wrote the poem so that ‘all young people could see themselves in a historical moment,’ and that she´s received countless letters and videos from children who were inspired to write their own poems.
News of the library restriction came a week after publisher Penguin Random House and writers’ group PEN America filed a lawsuit against a Florida school district over the removal of books from public school libraries that address race and LGBTQ issues.