FBI using counterterrorism resources on parents who oppose school mask mandates

By arseniotoledo // 2022-05-16

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is mobilizing resources dedicated to counterterrorism to investigate parents opposing school mask mandates. This is according to the Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee, which received information from whistleblowers within the agency that the FBI was conducting investigations into Americans based on allegations that they were threatening local school boards over Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) mask mandates. (Related: NYC mask mandate for toddlers stays in effect as judge overturns ruling that deems it UNCONSTITUTIONAL.) Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mike Johnson of Louisiana presented their allegations in an open letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland. According to the evidence presented to Garland, the FBI's counterterrorism bureau created an internal "threat tag" in the fall of 2021 to track alleged threats made against school boards and board members. This decision came following a directive to the FBI from Garland himself. This directive was sent several days after the National School Boards Association (NSBA) called on the Biden administration to investigate parents who allegedly made threats against school boards over COVID-19 mask mandates and the teaching of critical race theory. The NSBA also wanted the White House to determine whether the parents who allegedly made these threats violated the Patriot Act or laws against hate crimes.

FBI opened dozens of investigations on anti-mask mandate parents

The FBI's threat tag, "EDUOFFICIALS," targeted dozens of conservatives who allegedly made threats against local school boards. This directly contradicts Garland's congressional testimony denying that parents were being targeted under counterterrorism procedures. One investigation was allegedly opened after the FBI received a tip from the National Threat Operations Center snitch line that one mother told a local school board, "We are coming for you." The FBI opened this investigation claiming that the mother posed a threat because she is a gun owner and a member of Mom's for Liberty, a parental rights organization that the FBI labeled a "right-wing mom's group." "When an FBI agent interviewed the mom, she told the agent that she was upset about the school board's mask mandates and that her statement was a warning that her organization would seek to replace the school board with new members through the electoral process," wrote Jordan and Johnson in their letter to Garland. In another incident, the congressmen wrote that the FBI opened an investigation into a father who opposed mask mandates. This was opened following a complaint through the FBI's tip line that alleged the dad "fit the profile of an insurrectionist" because his speeches to the local school board "rails against the government." The FBI further alleged that this father "believes all conspiracy theories" and "has a lot of guns and threatens to use them." But when the FBI followed up on this with the person who sent in the tip, he admitted that he had "no specific information or observations of any crimes or threats." For more stories about FBI overreach, visit FBICorruption.news. Watch this episode of "The Highwire" as host Del Bigtree and co-host Jefferey Jaxen talk about how the fight over mask mandates continues. This video is from the channel The HighWire with Del Bigtree.

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FBI opened dozens of investigations on anti-mask mandate parents

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