The Department of Justice has had enough of unruly parents threatening educators over COVID-19 precautions and hot-button issues like critical race theory.
Noting “a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff who participate in the vital work of running our nation’s public schools,” Attorney General Merrick Garland instructed the FBI, U.S. Attorneys, and local law enforcement agencies to prioritize “this disturbing trend.”
In a memo released Monday, Garland specifically requested the creation of a task-force that will determine how “federal enforcement tools” can be used to prosecute those who threaten educators. He also called for increased training and guidance for local school boards.
Garland wrote “Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation’s core values. Those who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring that our children receive a proper education in a safe environment deserve to be able to do their work without fear for their safety.”
Last week, the National School Boards Association wrote a letter to President Joe Biden, saying “America’s public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat.” The group said “heinous actions” directed at educators “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
NPR provides context:
Mobs are yelling obscenities and throwing objects. In one district, a protester brandished a flagpole against a school board official. Other cases have included a protester yelling a Nazi salute, arrests for aggravated battery and disorderly conduct, and numerous death threats against public officials.
School board meetings, usually one of the most mundane examples of local democracy in action, have exploded with vitriol across the country in recent months, and school leaders are scared.
NPR adds:
Increasingly, these protests are being coordinated by national groups such as Let Them Breathe. Turning Point USA, a group closely aligned with former President Donald Trump, maintains a website called School Board Watchlist, which includes the names and photos of members of school boards around the country who have adopted mask mandates or anti-racist curricula. The group maintains a similar website targeting professors for liberal views that has been linked to several incidents of harassment.
Most of the school board protests have been over mask mandates. There have also been disruptions over vaccines, policies toward LGBTQ students and the way race and history are taught in schools, which right-wing activists have misleadingly labeled critical race theory.
“The Department takes these incidents seriously and is committed to using its authority and resources to discourage these threats, identify them when they occur, and prosecute them when appropriate,” Garland wrote on Monday.
