Multiple individuals working for the FBI confirmed this week that the agency did in fact investigate parents who protested at school board meetings regarding pandemic rules and curriculum changes despite Attorney General Merrick Garland’s assertions to the contrary.
“You’ve got over two dozen cases that whistleblowers came to us about, that they had concerns on,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). “If that isn’t designed to chill speech, I don’t know what does.”
According to Jordan, the FBI used the counterterrorism threat tag EDUOFFICIALS to open dozens of investigations into GOP state officials and concerned parents “in almost every region” of the US and “relating to all types of educational settings.”
This is a direct contradiction to the testimony provided by Garland in October 2021, when he said the Justice Department was not using counterterrorism resources to investigate disgruntled parents.
“The Justice Department supports and defends the First Amendment right of parents to complain as vociferously as they wish about the education of their children, about the curriculum taught in schools,” said Garland, adding that any investigation sought only to identify “violence and threats of violence” against school board officials.
According to whistleblowers, the FBI used counterterrorism tools to investigate parents who:
- Opposed mask/vaccine mandates
- Said they owned firearms
- Belonged to parents’ rights groups including “Moms for Liberty”
- Opposed critical race theory
A mother of several elementary-aged children was terrified when she received a call from the FBI. A fellow parent had reported her to an FBI tip line after she voiced opposition to a mask mandate and vowed to vote school board officials out of office.
“She was asked about all kinds of things” by the FBI, said Moms for Liberty founder Tiffany Justice. “From mental health to whether or not they owned firearms…This is a mom who has been involved in her kids’ school” and has “brought information and data and tried to hold the district accountable. To see a parent singled out like this, and then to hear that there are so many other parents it’s happening to across the country, is concerning.”
Another parent contacted by the FBI was deemed an ‘insurrectionist’ for allegedly ‘railing against the government, believing in conspiracy theories, and owning guns.’
Both investigations were dropped almost immediately after the FBI spoke with the parents, but the fact that their rights were violated remains.
“This whistleblower information is startling,” continues Jordan. “You have subjected these moms and dads to the opening of an FBI investigation about them…as a direct result of their exercise of their fundamental constitutional right to speak and advocate for their children.”
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Garland issued a department-wide memorandum on October 4th, 2021 directing the FBI to team up with attorneys offices and police throughout the country to monitor what he described as “ an increase in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school board members, teachers, and workers in our nation’s public schools.”
The memorandum was issued shortly after President Joe Biden received a letter from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) begging for help addressing “the growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation occurring across the nation.” NSBA President Viola Garcia and interim Executive Director Chip Slaven claimed schools were under attack by angry parents and asked the federal government to utilize the Patriot Act to address “heinous actions” comparable “to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
Garland responded by opening the FBI tip line and kept it open even after NSBA officials apologized for writing the letter. As referenced above, the tip line was utilized to investigate and harass parents who voiced opposition to pandemic mandates and critical race theory. As reported by The Washington Times, it is unclear if the hotline is still being used to investigate perceived threats against school officials.
“This information we have received shows how, as a direct result of your directive, federal law enforcement is using counterterrorism resources to investigate protected First Amendment activity,” argues Jordan, who went on to describe the parent probe as one of many attacks on free speech occurring during the Biden Administration. “But I tell people to stand up, speak out, exercise your First Amendment liberties…Because if you don’t and if we don’t push back, then they’ll keep firing away!”
Garland has refused Republicans demands to void his October 4th memo and provide documentation on the FBI’s monitoring program, but GOP officials could soon have subpoena power to obtain that information if Republicans take control of the House during the midterm election.
Editor’s note: Remember this is the guy that Obama wanted to be on the Supreme Court. I think we dodged a bullet here, there is no honor in this man.
Sources:
Whistleblowers: FBI probed parents under counterterrorism ‘threat tag’ for protesting school boards
Republicans say FBI used anti-terror tools to garget outspoken parents
House Republicans say whistleblowers confirm FBI investigations into outraged parents