WASHINGTON — A Wisconsin school district called the local police on a mom who posted a viral TikTok videoof her wheelchair-bound daughter being separated from her peers during a choir concert, The Post has learned.
Cops showed up at Amanda Vogel’s home twice last year before the School District of Pittsville, about 130 miles west of Green Bay, sent her a cease and desist letter accusing her of defamation in a pressure campaign to get her to remove the viral post.
“Parents don’t surrender their constitutional rights when they speak about their children’s education, and shouldn’t have to respond to law enforcement at their home for a social media post like this,” Cory Brewer, an attorney for the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) representing Vogel, told The Post.
Vogel had recorded her daughter being left on the sidelines while her classmates were given active roles.
We did not plan to homeschool. We tried our best to set up a good foundation for her to be successful and included at school. Unfortunately, there is only so much parents can do on their end. Watching her be placed off to the side while her peers stood together, and realizing no one noticed before the concert, was it for us. The solution was so simple. A row on the floor that included her. If something this visible was going unnoticed, what else was being missed when we weren’t around? #inclusionmatters #inclusiveeducation #homeschooljourney #parentingmoment
While the incident took place in 2023, Vogel posted the video on TikTok this past December to voice disgust at how her daughter was treated by her school.
“Watching her be placed off to the side while her peers stood together, and realizing no one noticed before the concert, was it for us,” Vogel captioned the video. “The solution was so simple. A row on the floor that included her.” “If something this visible was going unnoticed, what else was being missed when we weren’t around?”
The video has attracted more than 11.6 million views and triggered an avalanche of outrage against the district.
Vogel briefly changed the video from public to private in response to officials’ objections, but has since reversed course.
WILL fired back on Vogel’s behalf with a letter formally rejecting its Dec. 19, 2025, cease and desist demands and informing it that she is mulling “her next steps in defending her right to free speech.”
“Our understanding, and we haven’t heard back yet from the attorney who we sent the letter to, is that the district was concerned about some of the comments on the post and after it went viral,” Brewer explained.
The cease and desist letter, which was obtained by The Post, acknowledged that Vogel had received two visits from Pittsville’s chief of police.
“Based on what we know, the involvement of law enforcement was suggested by the school district attorney and was not a response to any direct threat to safety,” Brewer revealed.
“We assume you know that under the First Amendment, the school district, as a governmental body, cannot make a claim for defamation,” WILL wrote in its Thursday response, which Brewer co-signed.
“As a governmental body, the School District of Pittsville violated [Vogel’s] First Amendment rights by sending the police to her door to tell her to stop speaking in public about the district.”
WILL noted that while Vogel felt the police chief was “polite and professional” during the two visits, she “would appreciate an apology if one were freely offered but does not want one that is given grudgingly.”
Brewer revealed that this is the third instance where WILL has responded to a school district that sent a cease and desist letter to parents.
Vogel has since opted to homeschool her daughter.
The lawyer who sent the cease and desist letter from the School District of Pittsville, representatives from the district, and the Pittsville Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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