In October of that year, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a controversial order directing the FBI and other federal agencies to identify and prosecute violent threats and harassment from parents attending school board meetings.
Garland issued the memo days after the National School Board Association sent a letter asking the Biden administration to halt a growing problem of violence or threats of violence directed at school board members.
In Loudoun County, Virginia, a mere 40 miles from FBI headquarters, a new controversy erupted related to school board meetings and alleged threats of violence.
The controversy began after some Loudoun County parents spoke up at school board meetings on issues such as school safety, single-sex bathrooms, and parental rights in education.
A conservative media watchdog group, Accuracy in Media, launched a billboard campaign to publicize the connection between Loudoun County school board officials and the individuals who posted the online threats.
What lesson does that story hold? First, an obvious one: no school board member should face threats of violence, and the same goes for any concerned parent who addresses a school board meeting.
Federal law enforcement officials launched no similar response when the parents themselves were threatened by supporters and staff of the school board officials.
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