Curt Flewelling, FISM News
A U.S. House select subcommittee empaneled to investigate possible civil liberties violations by the federal government has released a damning interim staff report finding gross misconduct on the part of federal law enforcement officials.
THE MEMO
The Weaponization of the Federal Government and the House Judiciary Committees determined that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s October 4, 2021, memo that characterized parents as engaging in “criminal conduct” against school personnel was inaccurate and part of a broader attempt to manufacture a problem that simply did not exist.
The memo announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would be creating a task force comprised of its criminal division, national security division, and civil rights division, to aggressively investigate any and all threats of violence against local school board personnel.
The DOJ went so far as to set up a National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) tip line for anyone to report what they perceived to be criminal behavior on the part of parents.
THE INVESTIGATION
The select committee determined that the Biden administration and the National School Boards Association (NSBA) extensively colluded prior to Garland’s memorandum. Investigations are ongoing to determine the level of this communication.
The committee continues to investigate the executive branch’s level of involvement with the DOJ, Department of Education (DOE), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the matter. The initial report stated that there was “no legitimate law-enforcement basis for Garland’s anti-parent memo.”
Since the start of the crisis, local law enforcement has been strongly opposed to federal intervention at local school board meetings and warned of misapplied federal law-enforcement priorities.
HOW IT STARTED
The furor started in earnest in 2021 as frustrated parents were feeling increasingly disenfranchised as it pertained to their involvement in their children’s education. Critical Race Theory (CRT), sexually inappropriate curricula, and mask mandates were all hot topics that resulted in spirited school board meetings.
School board members routinely met concerned parents with indifference and sometimes hostility, as a result of their participation in the public debate. As these meetings became more and more contentious, local school boards felt the need to request federal law enforcement assistance to quell the “problem.”
Parents were mocked, shouted down, and even led away in handcuffs for exercising their right to air their grievances in the public square. The problem was so widespread that it became a winning campaign issue for several conservative politicians across the country, most notably Glenn Youngkin. His advocacy for parental rights was the primary reason for his upset victory over Terry McAuliffe in the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial race.
According to the report, committee Republicans continue to call on Attorney General Garland to rescind his memorandum, but he continues to refuse to do so.
“The use of these resources chills protected First Amendment activity as parents rightfully fear that their passionate advocacy for their children could result in a visit from federal law enforcement,” the report stated.