D49 school board candidate Ivy Liu addresses arrest, Hitler post after new texts circulate among parents
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A candidate running for a seat on the District 49 Board of Education is pushing back against what she calls a politically motivated smear campaign, after new text messages and social media posts resurfaced details from her past.
Ivy Liu, a former D-49 board member, is once again seeking election. Her previous term ended in controversy following both a 2023 arrest and a Facebook post quoting Adolf Hitler, a post that drew heavy attention and led fellow board members to censure her.
In a 2022 Facebook post, Liu quoted Hitler saying, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” She wrote underneath, “Parents - get involved and fight like your children’s lives depend on it, because they do.”
Liu told KRDO13 Investigates the post was intended as a warning about ideology in schools, not an endorsement of Hitler’s words.
“Every dictator has said this. We go after the children - indoctrinate them, have them thinking the way we think,” Liu said. “The haters on my board made a big deal of it, focusing only on the quote and accusing me of glorifying Hitler. It was a warning to parents - what are your kids studying?”
District 49’s board voted to censure Liu and formally requested her resignation following that post. She refused to step down.
In recent days, parents in District 49 reported receiving mass text messages from a group calling itself “Families for D49.” The messages include Liu’s 2023 mugshot and cite her prior arrest.
“Oh, this is strictly political targeting,” Liu told KRDO. “They’re using that mugshot to twist the details and make me look dangerous.”
Colorado Springs Police confirmed last year that Liu was arrested, but records show prosecutors later dropped and sealed the case.
Liu maintains she acted in self-defense after a tenant became intoxicated and confrontational.
“He was drunk,” she said. “A gun was only partially drawn - and that was only in response to him possibly drawing. The DA dropped the case immediately.”
Liu says the recent messages are an attempt to derail her new campaign.
“In this particular district, 70% of our kids are not proficient in math and 55% are not proficient in reading and writing,” Liu said. “That’s really bad - and I’m running to fix that.”
Liu tells KRDO13 Investigates she has reported the text campaign to police and plans to continue running for the D49 board.
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