CBSD's Jim Pepper endorsed by extremist militia group

This school board candidate doesn't look dangerous, and that's precisely why he is.

Oct 31, 2021

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Jim Pepper is one the most dangerous candidates on the ballot for CBSD school board this Tuesday. Why? Because he’s not out in public spewing QAnon talking points like his fellow candidate Debra Cannon.

Rather, he relies on his persona as a respectable attorney and dad to lull voters into a sense of “He seems smart and sane. He probably won’t mess things up. Good enough for me.”

But once you scratch the surface on Jim Pepper, things look a whole lot different.

4 things to know about Jim Pepper

1. He was endorsed by an extremist militia group

Like kooky Cannon, Pepper was endorsed by the Proud American Patriots Network (PAPN). As we mentioned in a previous newsletter, this group is affiliated with the Three Percenters, an organization that Canada has designated as a terrorist group.

He was also endorsed by ReOpen Bucks, the group behind much of the coordinated chaos at our school board meetings.

2. He’s a bully

Pepper loves a smear campaign.

His first successful smear campaign was against Rev. James St. George, an openly gay professor who used to teach at the Catholic Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia.

Used to.

A jaw-dropping 2011 story from the Philadelphia Daily News details Pepper’s crusade to get St. James fired because he was homosexual. It’s worth noting that Pepper had never even met St. James.

There are screenshots of this article at the bottom of the page. It’s worth a read to get some insight into how this guy operates. It’s nasty, cruel stuff.

3. His family are bullies

Nasty and cruel is Pepper’s calling card.

Pepper’s opponent, Diana Leygerman, had to file a police report against Pepper’s mother-in-law for using violent language against Leygerman online.

Yeah, and then Pepper’s wife “liked” the veiled threat.

Pepper had no response to this incident.

And we’re not saying Pepper was definitely the person behind public and well-funded smears of Leygerman. It could’ve been anyone. But it would’ve had to have been someone backed by lots of cash and who doesn’t mind playing dirty.

Speaking of money…

4. His real agenda: to kneecap public education

Pepper announced his candidacy on March 2, 2021 and then started campaigning in earnest. Just kidding. Actually, by March 3rd, he’d sort of just… disappeared.

Pepper has never explained his platform. He didn’t attend the public forum for school board candidates. He doesn’t respond to questions from the community.

It’s almost like he thinks he can win without doing any of the regular campaigning people would do in a school board election. And here’s the thing: he probably can. He’s got a massive war chest of campaign dollars behind him.

What’s Pepper’s real motivation? Like a lot of current school board candidates around the country, he isn’t actually interested in public education. In fact, he’d probably like to see it all privatized.

He has been endorsed and received funding from the Keeping Kids in School PAC (KKIS), which was founded by local rich guy and Koch-brothers connected Paul Martino. (More about this in our latest newsletter.)

KKIS is one of many groups that are pumping money into local school board races to push for a national agenda: privatizing public education. That’s the end game: defund public education in favor of school vouchers. Then, take over higher education in the private sector and rake in the profits. It’s all about money.

A report on how the infamous billionaire Koch brothers are now targeting public education explains the strategy: