FORT BEND COUNTY – A man running for a Fort Bend ISD trustee position is accused of posting insensitive comments and memes on social media. Some parents within the school district voiced their concerns Tuesday.
Anna Lykoudis-Zafaris has children that attend school in Fort Bend County. She said she grew concerned about one of three candidates running for the Position 7 seat on the school board after observing several Facebook and Twitter posts.
“It wasn’t just one tweet. It was a repeated pattern,” said Lykoudis-Zafaris.
She said she found some of David Hamilton’s social media posts racist, divisive, and extreme for someone wanting to represent one of the most diverse school districts in the state.
“It seems very hateful, very divisive, painful, words like retarded are being used by this candidate who should know better,” she said. “I’m a parent of two students in Fort Bend ISD that are in special ed.”
Lykoudis-Zafaris shared screenshots of tweets she called inflammatory, along with what appears to be Hamilton’s apology to parents in a Facebook group saying he got carried away with posting the offensive word and that he has a child with autism.
“I have a concern with the hyper-partisan politics,” said Piper Lindeen, a parent with two children in FBISD.
Lindeen is another parent who told KPRC2 she took offense to a now-deleted tweet regarding Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay bill saying, “Disney, The Washington Post and Democrats are sexualizing kindergartners.”
“When kids aren’t able to talk about their families who may be (in) same-sex marriages, that’s not sexualizing kindergartners,” Lindeen said. “That’s talking about their life. Other kids get to do that.”
Other parents surfaced their concerns on a Facebook Page for FBISD parents where Hamilton is a member.
“Mr. Hamilton’s comments have been racially insensitive towards African Americans, Hispanics and Asians,” said State Rep. Ron Reynolds of District 27, who has children in the district. “He had denigrated students that are LGBTQ, he’s denigrated Democrats and the Biden Administration.”
Rep. Reynolds, who represents Missouri City, has been the subject of some of Hamilton’s tweets regarding Reynolds serving jail time for illegally soliciting clients in 2018 while working as an attorney. Hamilton at the time unsuccessfully ran against Reynolds for his senate seat.
“I uncovered many of his racist tweets that were inappropriate for anyone seeking the position of a school board trustee. So, I think he’s trying to retaliate against me,” Reynolds said in response to Hamilton’s tweets.
A representative for Hamilton’s campaign told KPRC 2 that some of the tweets were a result of Hamilton’s Twitter account being hacked and that it was under investigation. The spokesperson also said the allegations were orchestrated by Rep. Reynolds and Hamilton’s opponents running for the trustee position.
Hamilton’s campaign also issued a statement saying in part “the campaign can not confirm the authenticity of those tweets or statements.” It later goes on to say “David is committed to equality and justice for all people.”
The Fort Bend ISD school board election is slated for May 7.