U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland admitted during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee Thursday he took the word of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) that parents voicing concerns at their local school board meetings should be targeted as “domestic terrorists.”
“When the National School Boards Association, which represents thousands of school boards and school board members says that there are these kinds of threats,” Garland told Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who pressed the attorney general on the fact that the very first sentence of his memorandum dated October 4 stated:
Citing an increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools, today Attorney General Merrick B. Garland directed the FBI and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to meet in the next 30 days with federal, state, Tribal, territorial and local law enforcement leaders to discuss strategies for addressing this disturbing trend. These sessions will open dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting, assessment and response by law enforcement.
“When did you first review the data concerning this so-called ‘disturbing’ uptick?” Jordan asked during the hearing.
“So, I read the letter, and we have been seeing over time – “ Garland said.
“So, you read the letter, that’s your source?” Jordan pressed. “Are there some studies on that or some investigation someone did that said there’s been a disturbing uptick, or did you just take the words of the National School Boards Association?”
“When the National School Board Association, which represents thousands of school boards and school board members says that there are these kinds of threats,” Garland repeated. “When we read in the newspapers reports of threats of violence, when that is in the context of threats of – “
The questioning ended when Jordan was told his time was up.
State school boards associations throughout the country have been distancing themselves from the letter sent by NSBA to President Joe Biden, imploring him for federal law enforcement assistance to deal with parents angry and frustrated over Critical Race Theory indoctrination in their children’s classrooms and mask mandates.
Attorneys general from 17 states also signed onto an effort to prevent the Biden Department of Justice from threatening vocal parents who express their concerns to school officials with investigation by federal law enforcement.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) wrote, “The October 4, 2021 Memorandum repeats the canard that ‘there has been a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff,’” … adding:
To be sure, anyone who attacks or threatens violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, or staff should be prosecuted. However, in its letter demanding action, the NSBA fails to document a single legitimate instance of violence. And even if it did, there are sufficient criminal and civil remedies already available in all 50 states and territories.
The NSBA requested Biden utilize legislation such as the PATRIOT Act to investigate whether parents should be identified as “domestic terrorists,” providing the following examples of “threats or actual acts of violence”:
An individual was arrested in Illinois for aggravated battery and disorderly conduct during a school board meeting. During two separate school board meetings in Michigan, an individual yelled a Nazi salute in protest to masking requirements, and another individual prompted the board to call a recess because of opposition to critical race theory.
In New Jersey, Ohio, and other states, anti-mask proponents are inciting chaos during board meetings … A resident in Alabama, who proclaimed himself as “vaccine police,” has called school administrators while filming himself on Facebook Live.
Garland’s reference to NSBA representing “thousands of school boards” stands in stark contrast to the statement of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA), which announced this week it was cutting its ties with NSBA, citing multiple problems with the national association:
[I]t has been a struggle for the board and leadership … to identify a reason to continue to be a part of a federation that is not focused on bipartisanship, civility and seeking solutions to the internal problems that have plagued the national organization for so long.
“From financial and pension issues to a never-ending disagreement on a governance model and definition of membership, the problems at NSBA have only become more and more entrenched despite recurring promises for action,” PSBA said.
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