Schools ask for help against threats received by the mask use mandate

A group representing members of school committees across the United States asked President Joe Biden on Thursday for federal help in investigating and curbing threats made in connection with various policies, including the mandatory use of masks to combat the spread of COVID-19. , and equated the incidents with a form of domestic terrorism.

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Parents and community members have been breaking into meetings and threatening members of school committees in person, online and by mail, a trend that deserves the attention of federal law enforcement agencies, the National Association of School Boards (NSBA) noted. in a letter to Biden.

“No matter what you think about masks, it shouldn’t go to this level of rhetoric,” NSBA Acting Executive Director Chip Slaven told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

School boards across the country have been disrupted by unruly assistants who intervene in business and silence other points of view.

Generally, threats directed at school board members are handled by local authorities, but the association asked the federal government to intervene in the investigation of cases in which threats or acts of violence could be classified as violations of federal laws that protect civil rights.

The NSBA also asked the Department of Justice, the FBI, Homeland Security, and the Secret Service to help monitor threat levels and assess risks to students, teachers, school board members, and academic facilities.

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“All these acts of malice, violence and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous acts could be the equivalent of a form of internal terrorism and hate crime,” the association wrote.

The letter documents more than 20 instances of threats, harassment, disruption, and acts of intimidation in California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio, and other states.

It mentions the September arrest of a man in Illinois for aggravated battery and disorderly conduct after he allegedly struck a school official during a meeting in Michigan, and the disruption of a meeting when a man gave the Nazi salute in protest at the order of mandatory use of masks.

The association represents more than 90,000 school board members in 14,000 public school districts.

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