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WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday ordered federal officials to hold strategy sessions over the next 30 days with law enforcement to deal with growing threats targeting school board members, teachers and other employees of public schools across the country.
In a memorandum, Garland said there had been “a worrying spike in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff who participate in the work. vital to the management of public schools in our country “.
To address the growing problem, Garland said the FBI will work with U.S. attorneys and federal, state, local, territorial and tribal authorities in each district to develop strategies against the threats.
“Although lively debate on political issues is protected by our Constitution, this protection does not extend to threats of violence or efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views,” he said.
Action responds to an emergency ask last week of the National Association of School Boards. The group, which represents school board members across the country, called on President Joe Biden for federal help to investigate and stop threats against policies, including mask warrants, likening vitriol to a form of domestic terrorism.
The association called on the federal government to investigate cases where threats or violence could be treated as violations of federal laws protecting civil rights. He also called on the Department of Justice, the FBI, Homeland Security and the Secret Service to help monitor threat levels and assess risks to students, educators, board members and school buildings.
The group’s letter documented more than 20 cases of threats, harassment, disruption and intimidation in California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio and other states. He cited the September arrest of an Illinois man for aggravated bodily harm and disorderly conduct for allegedly hitting a school official during a meeting. In Michigan, a meeting was disrupted when a man gave a Nazi salute to protest the masking.
“We’re following you,” a letter mailed to an Ohio school board member said, according to the group. “You make them wear a mask – for no reason in this world other than control. And for that, you will pay dearly. He called the member a “dirty traitor”.
In making the announcement, Garland said the Justice Department would use its authority and resources to deter threats and “prosecute them where appropriate.” In the coming days, the Department will announce a series of measures intended to deal with the rise in criminal behavior towards school personnel. “
School board members are largely unpaid volunteers, parents and former educators who show up to shape school policy, choose a superintendent, and revise the budget, but they were spooked at how their work suddenly became a battleground of cultural warfare. The climate has led a growing number to resign or not to stand again.
In a statement, Chip Slaven, Executive Director and Interim CEO of NSBA, praised the Justice Department’s swift action and highlighted the detrimental impact threats of violence and intimidation have had on the education system. .
“Over the past few weeks, school board members and other education officials have received death threats, threats and harassment, both online and in person,” he said. Slaven said. The ministry’s action “is a strong message to those with violent intentions who are focused on the chaos, disruption of our public schools and the creation of wedges between school boards and the parents, students and communities that they serve “.
Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, an Arlington, Va.-Based group formed in January, has taken on the school board group and the Department of Justice. In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, she said: “It is shameful that activists are militarizing the US Department of Justice against parents. This is a coordinated attempt to intimidate dissenting voices in the debates surrounding America’s underachieving K-12 education – and it will not succeed. We will not be silenced.
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