2/14/2024 0 Comments Merrick garland school board memoThe one-page memorandum directs the FBI and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has directed federal authorities to meet with local law enforcement over the next month to discuss strategies for addressing the increase in "harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers" in public schools across the country. COVID-19 protocols around the country have divided parents and school staff, in some cases leading to violence and intimidation. Poll: Nearly a quarter of U.S.People attend a special Board of Education meeting on mask mandates for students and staff in Kalamazoo County Schools at the Schoolcraft High School Gymnasium on Aug. Obama assails ‘politics of meanness’ as he campaigns in Virginia governor race Record-breaking California bomb cyclone linked to climate change “If you don't believe me, type ‘school board violence’ into your computer and take a look at what’s happening,” said Durbin, reading off a handful of examples of the news articles he encountered during such a search. Some Senate Democrats came to Garland’s defense, including the committee’s chairman, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who said that those who dismiss the dangers currently faced by school board members are “out of touch with reality.” “A core responsibility of the Justice Department is protecting Americans from violence and threats of violence,” he said. Garland said the threats against school board members are part of “a rising tide of violence” targeting a range of public figures, from teachers and election administrators to members of Congress and the media. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., at the hearing. “That’s not correct.” The man in question had been arrested for disorderly conduct at a school board meeting in June. “I never called him that,” exclaimed a visibly frustrated Garland. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused the attorney general of applying a domestic terrorist label to the father of a reported sexual assault victim at a Virginia school. Nonetheless, Republicans continued to conflate Garland’s memo with the NSBA’s letter, and Sen. “I adopted only the concern about violence and threats of violence, and that hasn’t changed.” “I did not adopt every concern in their letter,” Garland said when asked by Grassley if he would rescind his memo in light of the NSBA’s apology. But while Garland acknowledged that his memo had been issued, in part, in response to the NSBA’s request for federal law enforcement assistance, he stood by the guidance released by the Justice Department, which, he emphasized, contained no references to domestic terrorism or the Patriot Act. The NSBA has since apologized for the language in its letter following fierce backlash from parents and several state school board associations, as well as Republican officials. The letter, which called for federal law enforcement to respond to the “growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation” against public school officials, described recent attacks on educators as “a form of domestic terrorism” and urged the Biden administration to assess whether such incidents violate the Patriot Act and federal hate crime laws. But much of the outrage has centered not on the contents of the memo itself but on a letter sent days earlier to President Biden by the National School Board Association (NSBA). Garland’s memo quickly became a point of contention among Republicans after it was released on Oct. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., accused Garland of “siccing the feds on parents at school boards across America” and declared, “You should resign in disgrace.” Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the committee’s top Republican, in his opening statement. “Your memo treats parents speaking freely to be worthy of the department’s heavy investigative and prosecutorial hand,” charged Sen. Throughout Wednesday’s hearing, however, Republican senators sought to portray the memo as much more than that, accusing Garland of weaponizing the Justice Department and infringing on parents’ First Amendment rights. Attorney General Merrick Garland testifying before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |