Fresno Unified Superintendent Misty Her recently said a Facebook post from the Fresno Teachers Association led to her being physically assaulted.

“That post caused things to happen to me physically,” Her told ABC 30. “People were coming up to me and physically putting hands on me and referencing the post.”

But Fresno, Clovis, and Sanger police say they can’t find any reports of attacks involving the superintendent after April 29, the day the FTA post was created.

And, a Fresno County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said the agency could not recall any instance involving the superintendent, but if it did, nothing would be disclosed because of privacy laws.

Fresno Unified did not respond to multiple requests from GV Wire for comment.

Related Story: Fresno Unified Communications Boss on Leave After AI-Generated FTA Dossier ...

Her Says She’s Received Threats, Harassment, Hate-Filled Messages

Her said an FTA Facebook contest to guess the superintendent’s salary spurred the attacks against her. Her responded to that contest from her Facebook profile with her salary.

The statement to ABC30 came after Her admitted to telling her communications office to create a dossier containing every instance FTA leadership made “personal attacks” against the superintendent. It was later revealed that all the quotes attributed to FTA were fabricated using artificial intelligence.

The person responsible for creating the AI-fabricated dossier, district chief communications officer Nikki Henry, is on administrative leave until June 9. Wednesday’s closed session board agenda includes a “public employee discipline, dismissal, release, reassignment, resignation” item.

Despite the quotes being false, Her stood by the dossier. She also said that the teachers union’s criticisms of district policy have led to threats to her personal safety.

During her official announcement as superintendent on April 23, Her and several Fresno Unified trustees also made repeated claims that the superintendent and her family had been threatened.

“Since declaring myself as a candidate for the superintendency over the past several months, my family and I have faced harassment, threats, and hate-filled messages simply because I wanted to compete fairly simply because I was daring to lead,” Her said during her acceptance speech. “I have been the recipient of racist and sexist threats, and I’m going to tell you, this is not politics. This is not harmless, and this is not acceptable.”

Board President Valerie Davis told GV Wire on April 23 that the FBI was looking into the threats. A request made to the FBI for comment was not returned before publication of this story. The FBI rarely confirms whether or not an investigation is underway.

Related Story: Fresno Teachers Call for Probe After Superintendent Orders Up Dossier Against ...

Fresno Unified Interprets Criticism as Attacks: FTA President

FTA President Manuel Bonilla told GV Wire that the FTA has been vocal about cuts to school programs and the school board’s superintendent search process.

Many of the fabricated quotes attributed to Bonilla related to the district’s decision to cut the Designated Schools Program. It’s a program that FTA has, in fact, labeled a success because it delivered additional instruction to students. However, the district axed Designated Schools, citing a need to make budget cuts and saying it didn’t live up to its early promise of increasing student achievement.

Related Story: Fresno Unified Faces Teacher Uproar Over Slashing Designated Schools

Other fake quotes in the dossier related to criticisms about the superintendent search process, which many community members wanted done publicly.

In his public comment  on April 23, Bonilla congratulated the superintendent, saying he wants her to succeed.

“I want you to hear me from the bottom of my heart,” Bonilla said at the meeting. “I wish you good luck because when the new superintendent succeeds, our city succeeds, our students succeed, and our region succeeds.”

Bonilla said construing criticism as personal attacks discourages discussion about real issues.

“When you frame things, valid criticisms, as personal attacks, then you go so far as to suggest these supposed personal attacks then lead to actual incidences, and then you don’t know how influential your voice is in inciting those incidences. It feels to me a way to try to silence valid criticism moving forward,” Bonilla said.