A concerned parent organization — primarily made up of mothers — told the Daily Caller they are dismayed after a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) whistleblower letter confirmed that parents were targeted by the FBI under the direction of Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Tiffany Justice, a co-founder of the group Moms For Liberty, said she was “sad to see” this targeting “happening to people that care most about this country.” Justice said the organization is concerned federal investigations into members could “intimate our moms.”
Justice dubbed Garland “the terrorist,” not mothers, as she believes the attorney general’s tactics are aimed at the more than 85,000 mothers who wish to “reclaim public education” from woke ideology.
One member of Moms For Liberty was contacted by a field office of the FBI, according to a letter from the House Judiciary Committee sent to the DOJ and confirmed by Justice. The FBI reportedly contacted the mother after she complained about her school district’s ongoing mask mandate that flew in the face of local public health guidance.
“The complaint, which came into the FBI through the National Threat Operations Center snitch-line, alleged that the mom was a threat because she belonged to a ‘right wing mom’s group’ known as ‘Moms for Liberty’ and because she ‘is a gun owner,’” the letter from the Judiciary Committee reads.
BREAKING: The Biden Administration has mobilized FBI counterterrorism resources to investigate parents, including at least one member of @Moms4Liberty, for expressing protected political speech at local school board meetings.
This is a grave abuse of power. pic.twitter.com/MdK0vm51VN
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) May 12, 2022
Moms For Liberty co-founders Justice and Tina Descovich said in a press release that the mother was told by the FBI “not to say anything about that call.” The mother was reportedly told that there “were many other mothers being investigated.” (RELATED: Parent Group Alleges Facebook Censors Its Harmless Posts In Letter To Mark Zuckerberg)
Justice told the Daily Caller that the mothers who speak out at school board meetings are “genuinely concerned about their children’s education,” yet they’re targeted as domestic terrorists by a DOJ that sees them “as the enemy.”
“This should not be happening and we are going to do everything we can to ensure that it stops,” Justice said. She also stated that local law enforcement should deal with problems at local school board meetings, not the federal DOJ.
“Once the federal government uses our own taxpayer money to harness federal resources and federal officials to investigate law-abiding parents who attend public meetings and speak their minds, everyone’s free speech is at risk,” Justice and Descovich said in the press release.
The situation between concerned parents and the DOJ began after the National School Board Association (NSBA) called on the DOJ to help quell concerned parents at school board meetings in September.
According to the Judiciary Committee, the FBI’s counterterrorism division and criminal division acquiesced to the NSBA’s demands and “directed all FBI personnel to apply [the tag ‘EDUOFFICIALS’] to school board-related threats.” (RELATED: Republicans Say They Have Proof FBI Targeted Concerned Parents, Despite Garland Denials)
“These investigations into concerned parents are the direct result of, and would not have occurred but for, [the attorney general’s] directive to federal law enforcement to target these categories of people,” the letter from the Judiciary Committee reads.
The Daily Caller reached out to the DOJ for comment on the letter, to which they did not immediately respond.
Justice also told the Daily Caller that she believes Garland targeted Moms For Liberty because they are a “purpose-driven” organization and are a threat to the Biden administration’s agenda.
“We are the real deal, we are real grassroots, and we’re not beholden to lobbying groups or one political party,” Justice said.