U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) on Tuesday announced that he had sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray regarding last month’s U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) memorandum concerning parent-led protests at school board meetings.
In his October 4 memo, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland advised that the DOJ would partake in measures aimed at combating what he referred to as “the rise in criminal conduct directed toward school personnel.”
Parents across the nation took to their local school board meetings to convey concerns they held regarding what they viewed as racially charged academic concepts that were being incorporated into their children’s curricula.
The DOJ’s decision to issue the memo was met with intense scrutiny from Republican members of Congress, who expressed that they viewed the move as an intimidation tactic against concerned parents.
In his letter to the FBI head, Aderholt asked Wray about the number of resources the agency was dedicating to the effort to coordinate with governmental officials regarding the matter.
Additionally, he asked if the FBI intended to investigate school board members who posted sensitive information about parents who took to protest, an act commonly referred to as “doxing.” Lastly, the congressman inquired if the FBI had offered investigative support to local or state law enforcement in the doxing cases.
“A parent who makes a school board member emotionally uncomfortable simply by asking about school policies and curriculum content is not committing a crime,” Aderholt’s letter reads. “A heavy-handed approach by the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation will only serve to chill free speech in contravention of the First Amendment.”
The letter concludes in part, “Concerns about student safety must be taken seriously, and parents must be heard. In order to help prevent potential confrontations at school board meetings, the FBI should consider reminding states’ Secretaries of Education that parents have the right to speak and to ask questions at public meetings. The very existence of public meetings implies that private processes are not the only viable method for parents to inquire about safety and the education of their children.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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