Granite State Times

U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) did not respond to a request for comment after Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo to the FBI and U.S. Attorneys asking them to discuss strategies to address "an increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers."

“Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation’s core values,” Garland wrote in the memo issued Oct. 4.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee responded to Garland’s memo with a letter expressing concerns that the Department of Justice message may appear to be an attempt to police the free speech of parents and concerned citizens.

“We urge you to make very clear to the American public that the Department of Justice will not interfere with the rights of parents to come before school boards and speak with educators about their concerns, whether regarding coronavirus-related measures, the teaching of critical race theory in schools, sexually explicit books in schools, or any other topic,” the letter read. “Furthermore, we urge you to instruct the FBI and the various United States Attorneys to make clear in the meetings discussed above that speech and democratic processes, like those that occur at a local school board meeting, must be respected.”

In a recent Senate hearing, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, about Garland’s memo to the FBI. In a reply, Clarke said the activities mentioned in the memo are not protected by the First Amendment, reiterating the attorney general’s claim that they were not only illegal but counter to the “nation’s core values."

Former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, commented in a Newsmax piece on the subject, stating "What (the parents) don't have the right to do, is threaten to hurt, or do violence to teachers or to administrators, and that's a line that I would hope the Justice Department would keep clearly in mind — at the same time, always erring on the side of permitting freedom of expression, even if it's unruly."

In May, a New Hampshire mother was arrested for "disorderly conduct" at a school board meeting she attended to protest the mask mandate for her children. She was also not wearing a mask.