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White House press secretary Jen Psaki was pressed on Wednesday to explain why the Biden administration prompted the FBI to prosecute parents who protested at local school board meetings after ignoring the senator’s public harassment Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) over the weekend.
At Wednesday’s White House press conference, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Psaki if the Biden administration believed that “parents unhappy with their children’s agendas could be considered national terrorists?” following Attorney General Merrick Garland’s announcement that the FBI would lead the response to what he called “a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school administrators, board members administration, teachers and staff “.
This followed a letter last week to President Biden from the National School Boards Association (NSBA), which said “America’s public schools and its education officials are under immediate threat” as parents stand down. are fighting against the mask mandates imposed on their children and critical race theory being injected into their programs.
The letter from the NSBA further suggested that “[a]If these malicious acts, violence and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could amount to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.
Psaki first responded to Doocy by saying that “The National Association of School Boards is not part of the government” and reiterating that “Whatever the reasoning, threats and violence against officials are illegal. This is what he [Garland] was transmitting.
Doocy then noted that the letter from the NSBA called on the Biden administration to consider investigating threats against school administrators and staff using tools provided by various laws, including the Patriot Act. of the 9/11 era.
“Would the administration allow the FBI to use the Patriot Act to monitor these parents if that’s what they decide?” ” He asked.
“I’m not speaking for the National Association of School Boards,” Psaki sneered again. “I speak on behalf of this government. The attorney general sent a letter. They will take whatever action they take and I will direct you to them for more information.
Doocy then referred to the president’s remarks on Monday after pro-immigration protesters disrupted a class at Arizona State University where Sinema was teaching, then chased her into a toilet stall while haranguing the lawmaker against his opposition to a $ 3.5 trillion social spending bill.
“I don’t think these are appropriate tactics, but it happens to everyone,” President Biden responded to the incident on Monday. “The only people that doesn’t happen to are the people who have Secret Service around. So that’s part of the process.
On the same day, Psaki said the administration “defends the basic right of people to protest, to oppose, to criticize, as they often do outside the gates of the White House,” but specifically refused to condemn Sinema to be tracked down in the bathroom.
“Does the president support the fundamental right of parents to demonstrate at school council meetings?” Doocy asked.
“Sure, but he’s not defending the basic right – I guess neither are you – for people to take violent action against members of – officials,” Psaki replied. “And that’s what the threats are about. And so, no, he can’t stand it. No one should.
Garland’s memo ordered the FBI and US attorneys to schedule meetings with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial leaders within 30 days to “facilitate discussion of counter-threat strategies” and “Open dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting, assessment and response.”
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