Baltimore teacher sues Maryland Republicans, Moms for Liberty members, Libs of TikTok for defamation

A Baltimore teacher has filed a defamation lawsuit against four Republican Maryland legislators, Moms for Liberty members and Libs of TikTok social media account creator Chaya Raichik.

The lawsuit was filed last week by former Baltimore County teacher Alexa Sciuto, an LGBTQ+ advocate who claims that the GOP legislators falsely accused her of making death threats online toward a woman who is the head of a Moms for Liberty chapter, The Baltimore Banner reported.

Sciuto resigned from the county school district in June 2024, after six years, according to documents. She now works for Baltimore City Public Schools.

The suit alleges Moms for Liberty members have continued spreading false messages that she was fired. Sciuto is suing for at least $100,000 in damages, according to the suit, filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

None of the defendants in the lawsuit or their representatives responded to requests for comment from The Baltimore Banner.

Sciuto is a comedian who uses her social media to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and call out conservatives and has over 31,000 TikTok followers.

She attended a parents' rights event in Towson, Md., in June 2024, where Kit Hart, is a defendant in the lawsuit and the head of Carroll County's Moms for Liberty chapter, was among the speakers.

Sciuto asked Hart and her fellow panelists during a question-and-answer session with the audience what the word “woke” means, as it was on Moms for Liberty merchandise at the event. The teacher claims that Hart didn’t have a clear response.

She livestreamed the Q&A with Hart on her social media and later posted an edited version on her TikTok, which received over 660,000 views.

The Baltimore County Public Schools superintendent received a letter a few days later from Republican Delegates Kathy Szeliga, Ryan Nawrocki, Robin Grammer, Jr., and Lauren Arikan, calling for Sciuto to be fired.

Szeliga and Arikan, who attended the summit, claimed that Sciuto made death threats to Hart, citing her repost of Hart's post on X in which Sciuto wrote, “Officer, I swear I didn’t mean to murder her.”

“This is dangerous and abhorrent behavior by a Baltimore County teacher,” the legislators' letter stated. “We are also deeply concerned about her influence on students in Baltimore County in light of the unstable behavior demonstrated here.”

Sciuto claims in her lawsuit that the X post was rhetorical and in reference to Hart’s attempt to answer Sciuto’s question about wokeness, but was mischaracterized by the defendants as an actual threat.

Libs of TikTok published the legislators' letter on social media after they did, and it received "hundreds of thousands of views."

The lawsuit also alleges that Hart continued to share false claims about Sciuto in the following months.

“As a result of these events, Plaintiff experienced undue reputational harm, emotional distress, and disruption to her professional standing and employment prospects,” according to the lawsuit.

Sciuto said that, on a personal level, the goal of the lawsuit is to clarify what is true. However, on a broader level, she said she's standing up against people who attack teachers.