SC school board member poses with InfoWars host who questioned Sandy Hook school shooting
Parents in one Midlands school district are concerned after a school board member posted a photo of herself with a host from InfoWars, the online outlet that has been found liable for lying about a school shooting.
Lexington-Richland 5 school board member Elizabeth Barnhardt posted a photo on her Facebook page posing with Owen Shroyer, a host from the popular website that both critics and courts have accused of peddling conspiracy theories, including that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
"What an honor to meet the incredible American and patriot Owen Shroyer of the InfoWars War Room last night after his political debate at USC," Barnhardt wrote in a private post, which was shared with The State.
Shroyer was in Columbia on Monday to take part in a debate sponsored by Uncensored America, the University of South Carolina student group that last month hosted a controversial roast of Vice President Kamala Harris that featured the founder of the Proud Boys, a far-right, neo-fascist organization that planned and participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Shroyer was cited in a lawsuit filed by parents of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School for a video segment he did for InfoWars in which Shroyer questioned whether the father of a victim was telling the truth about seeing his son's body after the 2012 school shooting in Connecticut, which killed 20 children between the age of 6 and 7 as well as six school staff.
InfoWars owner Alex Jones was ultimately found liable for defaming the Sandy Hook families , who were awarded $45 million in punitive damages by a Texas jury.
In 2023, Shroyer himself received a two-month jail sentence for taking part in the Jan. 6 riot. Shroyer entered a restricted area outside the Capitol building and led chants through a megaphone that prosecutors in the case said " helped create Jan. 6 ."
Barnhardt told The State she wasn't thinking of the legal controversy around the Sandy Hook shooting when she attended the debate at USC. "It was a debate between two online influencers, and I was interested to hear it," she said. Barnhardt said she was "not there representing the school board, and I was posting on my personal Facebook page."
Dutch Fork High School parent Danielle Gray said she was shocked when she saw the Facebook post of Barnhardt with Shroyer on Tuesday, saying it raised concerns about how school board members are thinking about school security, which has been a topic of conversation in this fall's Lexington-Richland 5 school board race ..
"You have a woman who is standing next to a man named in a lawsuit, who personally said he doubts that man held his dead son," she said, referring to the Sandy Hook father mentioned in the InfoWars segment. "And saying he's a patriot. And you're a school board member."
"This is the person who is responsible for protecting my child at school?" Gray said. "It's dangerously wrong. If it doesn't raise a million red flags on school safety, I don't know what does."
Barnhardt declined to comment on the Sandy Hook verdict, but did say, "It was not Alex Jones or InfoWars or Owen Shroyer who were responsible for the Sandy Hook shooting."
"I think too often now when people hear Sandy Hook, they think of Alex Jones and not the person who committed the crime," she added.
Barnhardt is not up for reelection until 2026, but has offered endorsements to Catherine Huddle and Ken Loveless in this year's election.
"I have no knowledge of Mrs. Barnhardt's personal activities, nor do I consider alleged social media to be a reliable indicator of anything," Loveless said in an emailed statement to The State.
Huddle said in a statement that she had not seen the Facebook post and was unaware of who Shroyer was.
"Obviously Sandy Hook was a terrible tragedy," Huddle said. "Mrs. Barnhardt and I have supported every safety measure proposed by our administration and I look forward to working with her and our entire board to ensure school safety continues to be a top priority for our district."
