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Thursday, May. 4, 2023

Did the FBI under President Joe Biden label concerned parents who spoke at school board meetings “domestic terrorists,” as a Wisconsin congressman claims?

Tom Kertscher, Wisconsin Watch
no

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who represents most of northern Wisconsin, said President “Joe Biden’s FBI labeled concerned parents who spoke at school board meetings as domestic terrorists.”

We found no evidence of that.

Tiffany’s office cited a September 2021 letter from the nonprofit National School Boards Association to Biden that likened the violent threats directed at school officials over COVID-19 precautions and teaching on race as akin to "domestic terrorism."

But in an October 2021 response, Attorney General Merrick Garland did not adopt that comparison. He directed the FBI to examine violent threats targeting teachers and school officials, not parents speaking at school board meetings. The memo focused on criminal conduct, including violent threats and intimidation, not "spirited debate about policy matters" which is "protected under our Constitution.”

Tiffany is preparing a possible 2024 run against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., in 2024.

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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