SafeLibraries®

Saturday, August 1, 2026

'Destroy Them': Cartoonist Ryan Estrada Turns Real Dictatorship Book Bans into a Campaign Against American Parents

Ryan Estrada is a cartoonist who gained prominence in part through the real experiences of his wife, Kim Hyun-sook (also rendered Gim Hyeon-suk or Hyun Sook). Under South Korea’s military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan, she participated in an underground “banned book club” that read forbidden works by Paulo Freire, Che Guevara, Noam Chomsky, Betty Friedan, and others. She faced genuine risks of surveillance, arrest, interrogation, or worse, and was interrogated by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. That was actual government book banning and suppression of dissent.

Estrada later used his artistic skills to depict her experiences. He has since leveraged that platform to promote the American Library Association’s narrative of “book bans” in the United States. In the U.S. context, the term is routinely applied to parents and community members who object to certain materials in public school libraries or classrooms—materials many view as age-inappropriate. Critics of this framing, including parents speaking at public meetings, are frequently labeled “book banners,” “extremists,” or “Christofascists.”

Estrada has gone further. He has published detailed guidance for authors and others on how to confront parents who challenge books at school board meetings. One section includes the language: “And then, you get to the fun part… SIX: Destroy them; Everyone is on your side and paying attention. Now you go in for the kill.” (Emphasis in original.)

I previously highlighted the danger in that rhetoric (July 27, 2025).

NJ’s leading child grumor Martha Hickson (imho) promotes an author (Ryan Estrada) and his writing where he trains other authors to oppose parents who challenge books like this:

“Destroy them” “NOW YOU GO IN FOR THE KILL” “book-haters” “complete idiots”https://t.co/vMPDbHLmx5 pic.twitter.com/z5OIG5rJQx
— Dan Kleinman @OccupyLibraries (@OccupyLibraries) July 27, 2025

Today Estrada reframes my criticism as a claim that “AUTHORS WANT TO ‘KILL’ PARENTS!!!” and responds with a comic titled “KILL `EM WITH KINDNESS,” casting me as the big bad wolf. The comic was presented at the Perth Comics Festival 2026.

I documented the sequence here::

I just appeared at the Perth Comics Festival, thanks to Ryan Estrada who wrote an entire comic where I was the main character! See that guy speaking? That’s him. See the wolf 🐺? That’s me! Only I didn’t say that. pic.twitter.com/OrSHAUzBXL
— Dan Kleinman @OccupyLibraries (@OccupyLibraries) August 1, 2026

Others have also noted the pattern:

Leftists lie to gain power
(See thread if you’re interested in what we’re up against in the fight to keep p[*]rn books away from kids in taxpayer funded public libraries.) https://t.co/J92UbiP8ns
— America First (@KihneSheila) August 1, 2026

One reader even points out that Estrada harassed him for several days and ended up censoring citizens:

That pic at the bottom is when he came chasing after us. He'd been harassing me for several days when we found out he was coming to town for our fiscal court meeting. Having seen in his texts that hewas a taco short of a combo plate, I told our people not to go to the meeting.
— Citizens for Decency (@ForCitizen57725) August 1, 2026

I am currently defending against SLAPP-style lawsuits related to reporting on these issues. If you wish to support the legal defense of free speech in these matters: