FBI Ordered to Release Files That Called Parents Terrorists

A federal judge ruled last week that the Federal Bureau of Investigation must provide documents related to a 2021 letter that called parents domestic terrorists.

The agency initially described those parents, who were protesting issues like critical race theory, as serious threats in response to the National School Boards Association’s plea for assistance.

After the memorandum went public on Oct. 3, 2021, backlash arose at Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision to create a task force to investigate the parents — which consisted of the FBI, U.S. attorneys’ offices, and local law enforcement.

The government watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust filed a Freedom of Information Act request days later for all documents or correspondence by the Department of Justice on the task force.

However, Judge Trevor McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in a new order that the DOJ was dragging its feet in response to the FOIA request, the Washington Examiner reported.

McFadden said that the FBI failed to prove the request was unreasonable and offered “scant evidence for summary judgment,” rejecting two motions that sought to dismiss the case or have it decided in the agency’s favor.

Although the NSBA has since retracted and apologized for the letter, Garland has continued defending it. He told the House Judiciary Committee in a 2021 hearing that “true threats of violence are not protected by the First Amendment.”

“We are not investigating peaceful protests or parent involvement in school board meetings,” Garland insisted. “There is no precedent for doing that, and we would never do that. We are only concerned about violence and threats of violence against school administrators, teachers, [and] staff.”

PPT informed the Examiner that they were happy with the court’s ruling.

“There is evidence the FBI participated in targeting parents who protested to protect their kids, and their effort to dismiss this case could be an attempt to conceal the extent of their role in it,” stated PPT Director Michael Chamberlain.

“Yet again, the FBI finds itself at the center of a Biden Administration effort to weaponize the government against the American public,” he added.