FBI Investigated Dozens of Parents Who Criticized School Boards, Found No Legitimate Threats

The FBI launched investigations into parents who voiced concerns against school boards under the pretexts of potential domestic terrorism but there were no legitimate threats found in any of the investigations. The investigations were launched following a warning by the National School Boards Association, referring to parents as possible domestic terrorists. Out of 25 preliminary investigations of school board threats, the FBI only opened one full investigation but did not find any legitimate threats against school board members.

The Biden administration has been accused of unfairly targeting conservatives with these investigations. According to a report by the Weaponization of Government Subcommittee, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), and obtained through a subpoena of the FBI, “The Administration’s goal seems to have been silencing the critics of its radical education policies. This weaponization of law-enforcement powers against American parents exercising their First Amendment rights is dangerous.”

These findings will be discussed during a House hearing entitled “Free Speech: The Biden Administration’s Chilling of Parents’ Fundamental Rights,” which focuses on the coordination between the Biden administration and the National School Boards Association in a letter that referred to parents as domestic terrorists. Republicans have invited witnesses from Parents Defending Education and Moms for Liberty, conservative parent groups that have opposed school mask mandates and left-wing curricula.

While the Democrats and the administration expressed concern over growing threats from conservatives, the FBI found no increase in legitimate threats against school boards. The FBI acknowledged that it “has not observed an uptick of threats directed at school officials since it began tracking the data.”

Specific complaints submitted to the FBI showed how individuals were targeted. For instance, one mother was interviewed by the FBI after a tipster claimed she was part of a “right wing mom’s group” and was threatening school board officials. The mother, however, was a member of Moms for Liberty and was simply expressing her anger towards school district’s mask mandates. Similarly, an FBI field office opened an investigation of a father who opposed mask mandates, but the complaint proved to have no specific information of any crimes or threats made by him.