Despite the National School Boards Association apologizing for the letter that sparked the fire, Attorney General Merrick Garland stood strong on his memo to Justice Department employees addressing a federal response to violence and intimidation of school board officials.
Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the apology letter had no bearing on the Justice Department’s stance.
“The letter that was subsequently sent does not change the association’s concern of violence or threats of violence. It alters some of the language in the letter...that we did not rely on and is not contained in my own memorandum,” Garland said, per Fox News.
Garland said the Justice Department is not concerned about school board officials, but a “rising tide” of violence against prosecutors, election administrators, judges, and others.
“The only thing the Justice Department is concerned about: violence and threats of violence,” he said.
As previously reported by Human Events News, the National School Boards Association wrote a letter to the White House claiming that school boards face “domestic terrorism and hate crimes” from critics of mask mandates and promoters of “propaganda purporting the false inclusion of critical race theory.”
In response, Merrick Garland said the FBI and U.S. attorneys would have meetings with federal, state and local leaders to form “strategies for addressing threats.”
The Justice Department said in a press release that it would create “specialized training” for school boards and administrators to identify threats, report it to law enforcement and “capture and preserve evidence” to aid in prosecutions.
Most recently, the National School Boards Association wrote a second letter saying they “regret and apologize” for the first one, and that “there was no justification for some of the language” they used.
“All it asks is for federal law enforcement to consult with, meet with local law enforcement to assess the circumstances, strategize about what may or may not be necessary to provide federal assistance if it’s necessary,” Garland said.
