House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy blasted a new Department of Justice policy designed to put an end to “threats of violence” against school officials, saying it was part of the Democrats’ plan to stifle parents.
“President Biden’s latest decision is part of a disturbing trend in the Democrat Party to silence parents,” McCarthy said on Twitter Tuesday. “We should encourage family participation in our schools, not baselessly attack opposing views because leftist groups want control over curriculums.”
The issue at hand is a new DOJ plan to fight an alleged rise in violence and threats aimed at schools boards and other school officials. Across the country, there have been a number of parents attending school board meetings to express their disapproval of COVID-19 restrictions and the use of critical race theory in curricula.
“Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation’s core values,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Monday. “Those who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring that our children receive a proper education in a safe environment deserve to be able to do their work without fear for their safety.”
Garland instructed federal law enforcement agencies to work with state and local law enforcement to examine the “disturbing trend” of harassment aimed at school officials.
In a statement Tuesday, McCarthy suggested Democrats were guilty of their own “disturbing trend,” alleging that the new DOJ effort was merely an attempt to “silence parents from having a say in their own children’s education.”
“We saw it last week when Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Terry McAuliffe, said parents shouldn’t have a say in what their own children are taught and it continues this week with the Biden administration labeling parents with concerns and dissenting opinions as domestic terrorists,” McCarthy said.
The Congressman added that parents should be encouraged to be involved with the public school systems.
“Parents have a fundamental right to be lawfully involved in their children’s education,” McCarthy said. “We should encourage family participation in our school systems, not baselessly attack opposing views because some liberal education officials and special interest groups see it as a threat to the power they want to have over what children learn in America’s classrooms.”
McCarthy added that congressional Republicans will be “demanding answers” from the administration concerning the policy.