Fact check: Does FBI flag parents who 'go to school board meetings?'
U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., on Jan. 8 accused federal officials of abusing their power, saying parents who attend school board meetings "to question the curriculum" are "flagged by the Department of Justice and the FBI." PolitiFact checks his claim.
Posted — UpdatedHouse conservatives who held up Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s House speaker vote demanded that lawmakers review criminal investigations by the Justice Department and FBI.
Republicans are planning to create a panel that will probe federal investigations related to what they consider a "violation of the civil liberties of citizens of the United States" and the "weaponization of the federal government."
Perry did not say he wouldn’t serve on such a panel and suggested that federal officials have overreached their power.
"We're talking about parents that go to school board meetings for the schools that they pay for with their taxes and having the temerity to question the curriculum, and then they're put on, you know, the red flagged, they’re flagged by the Department of Justice and the FBI for attending a meeting," Perry said. "That's not what America is supposed to be about. That sounds like some tinhorn Third World dictatorship."
Garland’s school threat memo set off backlash
"While spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution, that protection does not extend to threats of violence or efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views," Garland wrote.
Ohio lawmaker said federal officials were using threat tags against parents
We contacted Perry’s office to ask whether he had evidence that federal law enforcement officials flagged parents for questioning curriculum. We received no response.
An FBI spokesperson told PolitiFact that the agency does not "flag" parents for attending meetings and questioning their children’s curriculum.
It’s possible Perry’s claim is based on a letter Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote to Garland in November 2021.
Jordan wrote that he had information from a whistleblower showing the FBI was compiling threat assessments related to parents. Jordan’s letter said the FBI created a "threat tag" called EDUOFFICIALS.
The FBI uses "threat tags" to track information and spot trends — it does not necessarily signal a full investigation, which occurs if there is evidence of potential violence and violation of federal law, an FBI spokesperson told PolitiFact. The EDUOFFICIALS tag was created to track instances of threats directed against school officials.
The report cited tips received by the National Threat Operations Center. One tip led to a mother being interviewed by an FBI field office after she allegedly told a local school board, "We are coming for you." The mother, who is a member of the right-wing group Moms for Liberty, told the FBI agent she meant her group would seek to vote school board members out. The House Republicans’ report doesn’t explain whether that was the end of the FBI’s query into the mother.
PolitiFact ruling
Perry said that "parents that go to school board meetings" and question the curriculum are being "flagged by the Department of Justice and the FBI for attending a meeting."
Perry’s office provided no evidence and his claim echoes misleading statements about a 2021 Justice Department memo directing federal law enforcement to hold meetings nationwide about criminal threats against school officials.
The memo focused on monitoring criminal conduct; it wasn’t about investigating parents who spoke about curriculum at school board meetings.
The FBI created an EDUOFFICIALS "threat tag" as a logistical tool to track threats of violence against school officials, not to flag parents for attending meetings or questioning curriculum.
We rate Perry’s statement False.
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