Garland Memo Fallout: RI Assoc. of School Committees To “Coordinate” With FBI And Gather Information On Public Meeting “Issues”
October 5 email to RI school committee members: “RIASC will contact our US Attorney as well as the FBI and coordinate with them on what steps if any, we need to take. In the interim, please apprise me of any issues you have had during your Committee meetings on topics such as mask mandates, issues with equity education, rights for LGBTQ, and BIOPC students.”
Protests against Critical Race teaching and COVID-related mandates have energized parents around the country. The news headlines have been dominated by videos of parents objecting to they way school and teacher union officials have treated the community.
There have been no riots, no looting, and officials have not been chased into bathrooms. Rather, there has been heated discussion, often precipitated by school board officials trying to silence protesters. There are very few reported cases of violence or threats, and when such incidents have been reported, they have been handled by local law enforcement.
Nonetheless, there has been a concerted effort to portray these parent protestors as terrorists and extremists. The National School Boards Association sent a letter on September 29, 2021, seeking federal intervention and law enforcement action against people protesting against Critical Race Theory teaching and COVID-related school mandates, asserting that protests had risen to the level of threats that needed to be treated as “equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
The letter cited only a small number of threats nationally, but argued that federal intervention was needed because the alleged disruption affected the delivery of services funded by federal tax dollars.
In response, on October 4, 2021, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a Memorandum instructing the FBI and other federal agencies to coordinate with other federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. The DOJ issued a press release asserting: “Citing an increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools, today Attorney General Merrick B. Garland directed the FBI and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to meet in the next 30 days with federal, state, Tribal, territorial and local law enforcement leaders to discuss strategies for addressing this disturbing trend. These sessions will open dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting, assessment and response by law enforcement.”
A concern expressed by many, including by me, was that this federal intervention was an attempt to chill lawful protests and speech. Senator Josh Hawley made this point when questioning a Justice Department official:
.@HawleyMO: If this [Garland memo] isn't a deliberate attempt to chill parents from showing up at school board meetings… I don't know what is.
…You're using the FBI to intervene in school board meetings. pic.twitter.com/RT1f1mrwBL
— Abigail Marone 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) October 5, 2021
The Garland memo already has prompted action in Rhode Island to gather information on “issues” raised at school committee public meetings, confirming the concerns that lawful protest would be reported to the FBI and other law enforcement as part of this national monitoring effort.
The Rhode Island Association of School Committees (RIASC) acted on the Garland October 4 memo early in the morning of October 5. On October 5, 2021, at 8:18 a.m., RIASC forwarded to local Rhode Island school committee officials an article from Politico about the Garland Memo, “Garland taps FBI in response to ‘disturbing spike’ in threats against educators.”
We have a copy of the email, sent to over a dozen local school committee officials, which states that RIASC would be contacting the U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island and the FBI to “coordinate with them” and asking that the officials report to him “any issues you have had during your Committee meetings” on certain topics.
Here is the full text of the October 5, 2021, 8:18 a.m. email:
Last week the National School Boards Association sent a letter to President Biden, decrying the threatening behavior of some public members attending school board meetings. NSBA requested that the President direct the Justice Department and the FBI to reach out to local leaders about ways to address the threatening behavior.
RIASC will contact our US Attorney as well as the FBI and coordinate with them on what steps if any, we need to take.
In the interim, please apprise me of any issues you have had during your Committee meetings on topics such as mask mandates, issues with equity education, rights for LGBTQ, and BIOPC students.
Sincerely,
Timothy Duffy
Executive Director
Rhode Island Association of School Committees
I reached out to Duffy by email, asking the following questions:
Can you explain (1) whether you have reached out to the US Attorney in Rhode Island and/or the FBI or local law enforcement yet, and if so, what you reported and what advice you have received as to monitoring school board interactions with the public, (2) whether any of the RIASC members and/or persons you emailed have provided you with information in response to your email, and if so, what “issues” or problems they have identified, and (3) whether you had any additional communications with school board officials or others since that email regarding possible law enforcement involvement, and if so, what those communications have been.
As of this writing, I have not received a response.
RIASC’s actions in response to Garland’s memo confirm concerns that lawful and constitutionally protected speech would be reported to law enforcement. Even if law enforcement takes no action, just knowing that the federal government has instituted a monitoring process and that local officials are part of that process will have a chilling effect on parents protesting to protect their children.
[Featured Image: Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas addressing South Kingstown Rhode Island School Committee, via YouTube]
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The FBI, a Quinn Martin production starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. Tonight’s Episode- “Show Me a Soccer Mom and I’ll Show you a Terrorst.” Special guest star Mary Tyler Moore
There’s always the no-fly list and gun confiscation.
This is sure to warm the hearts of normal parents nationwide.
“Nonetheless, there has been a concerted effort to portray these parent protestors as terrorists and extremists.”
This is just the latest episode in a long running production. Think January 6.. Think IRS targeting of Conservative leaning non-profits.
Everyone who does not quietly accept what the left commands is considered fair game.
Heroic FBI Agent Tackles Parent Expressing Concern for Student’s Education!
https://babylonbee.com/news/heroic-fbi-agent-tackles-parent-expressing-concern-for-students-education
The parents need to get organised and mobilised to get these individuals removed from every school board that they can.
Who knew the education department was actually in control of the CDC, FBI and AG’a office
Who knew?
Its actually the teachers unions which makes a bit more sense but is just as scary and wrong.
The FBI has literally become the KGB
Yakov Smirnov made a living off jokes about life in the USSR. Now he can return to Russia and tell the same jokes but replacing KGB with FBI and DNC replacing the Central Committee. He will find a sympathetic and knowledgeable audience.
The fibbies at meetings will be easy to spot. They will be the loudest and advocating criminal action. Point them out and take care of them.
What other motives could Garland have for the memo?
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/conflict-interest-ag-garlands-family-getting-rich-selling-critical-race-theory-materials
Panorama sells software to schools that basically data mines children, they then repackage it and sell it to other schools along with social-emotional learning content and CRT-like drivel. Its is estimated that the company serves upwards of 1/4 of all public school kids in the country.
Garland’s son in law was a co-founder of the company that monetizes American school children. To date Panorama has raised over $100M in venture money including from Zuck. Most recently it raised $60M just last month. I would estimate that the company could be worth anywhere from $400-800M perhaps even a bit more and that the son-in-law, as a co-founder, would likely own anywhere from 5-10% of the company at this point.
Quite the incentive to quiet those parents seeking to disrupt the gravy train.
Beat me to it. Well done, friend.
Garland needs to explain how this isn’t a major conflict of interest, and that’s on top of the spectacular First Amendment infringement that should end in him being turfed.
As expected, Zero Hedge comments bring up Garland being Jewish.
I’m Jewish, but I’m becoming anti-Semitic against leftist Jews like you wouldn’t believe
Mark, you and me, both!
One comment-maker yesterday made a remark about Jews that many here pounced upon. I did not. Why? Because that comment maker, and 100s more not saying anything, see or have seen, Ginsburg, Schumer, Feinstein, Boxer Nadler, Whitehouse, and countless others who would sell out America at the drop of a hat. They are putting two and two together, and coming up not with five, but very close to four and I don’t blame them. I encountered plenty of “my” people in the navy whose loyalty I questioned. I wondered why my clearance took so long, as it sometimes did for others I knew were Jewish. Now, I understand.
I stepped away from the “culture” decades ago. I was brought up Reform. Democrats with holidays, ample use of badly pronounced Yiddish, and the, sighing, moaning, gevalting, every silver lining has a cloud pessimism. I’d meet a new friend, and my mother’s first concern was it was not one of the goyim.
When I was just in my VERY early teens, I made some non-Jewish friends, much to my mothers horror. I met their families. I was shocked to discover fathers who actually LIKED their sons and did things with them. Families that at least seemed happy, and that had some optimism and hope even amongst the most poor.
I started re-assessing my surroundings, my views, my training. That is when I took that first step away.
With my looks and my surname that can be German, Irish, Scots, or English, I can “pass”.
Mr. Cohen: believe me. I believe you.
Ditto. My last name is held by Catholics and Lutherans as well, in fact I would say the majority are not Jewish. But it’s still a lot more Jewish sounding than “Merrick Garland”.
I would also note that while I find a great deal of anti-semitism among the comments on Zero Hedge, for the most part the articles play it straight.
As for the predominant Jewish Left, I’ll repeat what I’ve said before many times and on many sites: If Hitler were non-white, American Jews would be fighting for first place in line for the camps.
I’m just waiting for the National School Boards Association to be sued by the first person who is acquitted of federal charges.
If they are acquitted. Juries can be threatened with audits and other tactics; judges act on whim, or on instructions.
Moderate Merrick Garfinkle, joe blows good bud.
Who new?
Far-left Jewish Americans like Garland, and ALL other ethnic groups, see traditional white Americans as a threat against themselves and want their own group ascendant with Whites pushed down, so they vote overwhelmingly Democrat. Democrats advocate anti-white/anti-traditional American views that they find appealing Jewish Americans view support of Israel as very important, but even though Democrats have turned anti-Israel and Republicans give much more support to Israel, their dislike of whites is more compelling. Blacks and Latinos vote that way too. America has been torn apart by this anti-white and anti-American hatred. They want to destroy it, but they invaded this country to benefit from it. The true terrorists are people like Garland. They want to destroy everything that is traditional American and they are succeeding. Our history books have been rewritten to make Whites appear as oppressors, our statutes are toppled, our education system has been converted to teach how oppressive White people are. We’ve turned control of this country over to terrorists like Garland.
Hey, now the computers in medicine people (medical informatics) have gone woke.
Next up, computers that predict doctors are racists:
JOB POSTING: Anti-Racist Health Informatics/Data Science Faculty Position
The University of Michigan School of Information seeks qualified tenure-track faculty candidates (open rank) to broaden existing scholarship within the school and the U-M community in the area of Anti-racist Health Informatics and/or Data Science. Areas of research and teaching may include, but are not limited to:
Racial bias and unintended racist consequences in data, algorithms, and technologies that enable health care;
Point-of-care informatics interventions to reduce healthcare providers’ implicit racial biases and enhance their structural competence; and
Community-driven, technology-enabled models of healthcare delivery that address racism as a social determinant of health and empower racialized communities in service/intervention design.
We especially welcome scholars who have demonstrated expertise in anti-racist research methods, interdisciplinary scholarship experience, and a commitment to translating research into practice.
This position is part of a new faculty cluster focused on “Racial Justice in Healthcare: Informatics and Data-Driven Approaches.” This cluster hire of five faculty (one within each of five units) will focus on using informatics and data science methods to detect, understand, and reduce structural racism within healthcare, and racial healthcare disparities. Faculty will he hired in the following units: (1) the School of Information; (2) College of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy; (3) University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Learning Health Sciences; (4) School of Nursing, Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences; and (5) School of Public Health, Department of Health Management and Policy. There will be additional support for cross-school collaborations within the cluster, and the School of Information is also involved in a second cluster hire focused on Anti-Racist Data Justice. Both clusters are part of a university-wide faculty hiring initiative in anti-racism. Over the next three years, the university will hire at least 20 faculty members with scholarly expertise in racial inequality and structural racism.
The successful candidate should demonstrate potential for or experience with publication and research funding, for collaborative and interdisciplinary initiatives, and for working with students from diverse backgrounds. Candidates are expected to have a completed Ph.D. in information science, health or biomedical informatics, computer science, or a related field.
Job Expectations and Responsibilities:
Job duties include research, teaching, and service. Job responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Conducting scholarly research resulting in publications in peer reviewed journals, book chapters, edited books, books, and conference proceedings
Seeking outside funding to support research
Teaching in UMSI’s five academic programs, including the collaborative Masters of Health Informatics (MHI)
Mentoring students for independent studies, master’s projects and theses, and doctoral dissertations.
Providing service to the school, University, and the broader academic community by way of committee work, journal editing, and other various opportunities
Each member of the UMSI faculty is expected to have teaching effort equivalent to three semester-long courses per year.
About UMSI and UM
The mission of the School of Information is to create and share knowledge to help people use information — with technology — to build a better world. A successful candidate will be committed to, and will directly contribute to, our goal of being the best research and teaching institution for the understanding and design of information and its technologies in service of people and society.
The School is home to vibrant research and teaching programs, with 60 FTE professors, and over 1,400 students. We offer five degrees: a Ph.D., a Master of Science in Information, a Master of Health Informatics, a Bachelor of Science in Information, and an online Master of Applied Data Science.
Founded in 1817, the University of Michigan has a long and distinguished history as one of the first public universities in the nation. It is one of only two public institutions consistently ranked among the nation’s top ten universities. The University has one of the largest health care complexes in the world and one of the best library systems in the United States. With more than $1.53 billion in research expenditures annually, the University has the second largest research expenditure among all universities in the nation. The University has an annual general fund budget of more than $2.3 billion and an endowment valued at more than $12.5 billion. For more information about UMSI, please visit: http://www.si.umich.edu.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
Ph.D. in an area such as information science, health or biomedical informatics, computer science, or a related field
A strong interest in teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels
A strong commitment to interdisciplinary research and cultural diversity
Desired Qualifications
A proven record in teaching and research
Application Instructions
Required Documents:
All applicants should submit a cover letter, a vita, three representative publications, evidence of teaching excellence if available, a research statement, a teaching statement, a diversity statement, and for Assistant Professor candidates three letters of recommendation. All application materials must be submitted electronically to: apply.interfolio.com/87160
Please direct inquiries about this position to the chair of our faculty search committee, Tiffany Veinot ([email protected]). Consideration of applications will begin immediately. Applications submitted by October 15th will receive full consideration
——————————
Tiffany Veinot PhD
Associate Dean for Faculty and Professor
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor MI
(734)615-8281
——————————
Mark Cohen,
That UM job description is appalling. The use of computers for oppression is increasingly obvious.
Thank Jehovah (and Mitch McConnell) that he’s not on the Supreme Court.
This appears to be the kind of thing that Anti-SLAPP laws were enacted to stop. Maybe someone with actual legal knowledge of such things can tell us if anti-SLAPP can be applied to government entities.
Hey, now the computers in medicine people have gone woke.
Next up, computers that predict doctors are racists:
JOB POSTING: Anti-Racist Health Informatics/Data Science Faculty Position
The University of Michigan School of Information seeks qualified tenure-track faculty candidates (open rank) to broaden existing scholarship within the school and the U-M community in the area of Anti-racist Health Informatics and/or Data Science. Areas of research and teaching may include, but are not limited to:
Racial bias and unintended racist consequences in data, algorithms, and technologies that enable health care;
Point-of-care informatics interventions to reduce healthcare providers’ implicit racial biases and enhance their structural competence; and
Community-driven, technology-enabled models of healthcare delivery that address racism as a social determinant of health and empower racialized communities in service/intervention design.
We especially welcome scholars who have demonstrated expertise in anti-racist research methods, interdisciplinary scholarship experience, and a commitment to translating research into practice.
This position is part of a new faculty cluster focused on “Racial Justice in Healthcare: Informatics and Data-Driven Approaches.” This cluster hire of five faculty (one within each of five units) will focus on using informatics and data science methods to detect, understand, and reduce structural racism within healthcare, and racial healthcare disparities. Faculty will he hired in the following units: (1) the School of Information; (2) College of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy; (3) University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Learning Health Sciences; (4) School of Nursing, Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences; and (5) School of Public Health, Department of Health Management and Policy. There will be additional support for cross-school collaborations within the cluster, and the School of Information is also involved in a second cluster hire focused on Anti-Racist Data Justice. Both clusters are part of a university-wide faculty hiring initiative in anti-racism. Over the next three years, the university will hire at least 20 faculty members with scholarly expertise in racial inequality and structural racism.
The successful candidate should demonstrate potential for or experience with publication and research funding, for collaborative and interdisciplinary initiatives, and for working with students from diverse backgrounds. Candidates are expected to have a completed Ph.D. in information science, health or biomedical informatics, computer science, or a related field.
Job Expectations and Responsibilities:
Job duties include research, teaching, and service. Job responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Conducting scholarly research resulting in publications in peer reviewed journals, book chapters, edited books, books, and conference proceedings
Seeking outside funding to support research
Teaching in UMSI’s five academic programs, including the collaborative Masters of Health Informatics (MHI)
Mentoring students for independent studies, master’s projects and theses, and doctoral dissertations.
Providing service to the school, University, and the broader academic community by way of committee work, journal editing, and other various opportunities
Each member of the UMSI faculty is expected to have teaching effort equivalent to three semester-long courses per year.
About UMSI and UM
The mission of the School of Information is to create and share knowledge to help people use information — with technology — to build a better world. A successful candidate will be committed to, and will directly contribute to, our goal of being the best research and teaching institution for the understanding and design of information and its technologies in service of people and society.
The School is home to vibrant research and teaching programs, with 60 FTE professors, and over 1,400 students. We offer five degrees: a Ph.D., a Master of Science in Information, a Master of Health Informatics, a Bachelor of Science in Information, and an online Master of Applied Data Science.
Founded in 1817, the University of Michigan has a long and distinguished history as one of the first public universities in the nation. It is one of only two public institutions consistently ranked among the nation’s top ten universities. The University has one of the largest health care complexes in the world and one of the best library systems in the United States. With more than $1.53 billion in research expenditures annually, the University has the second largest research expenditure among all universities in the nation. The University has an annual general fund budget of more than $2.3 billion and an endowment valued at more than $12.5 billion. For more information about UMSI, please visit: http://www.si.umich.edu.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
Ph.D. in an area such as information science, health or biomedical informatics, computer science, or a related field
A strong interest in teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels
A strong commitment to interdisciplinary research and cultural diversity
Desired Qualifications
A proven record in teaching and research
Application Instructions
Required Documents:
All applicants should submit a cover letter, a vita, three representative publications, evidence of teaching excellence if available, a research statement, a teaching statement, a diversity statement, and for Assistant Professor candidates three letters of recommendation. All application materials must be submitted electronically to: apply.interfolio.com/87160
Please direct inquiries about this position to the chair of our faculty search committee, Tiffany Veinot ([email protected]). Consideration of applications will begin immediately. Applications submitted by October 15th will receive full consideration
——————————
Tiffany Veinot PhD
Associate Dean for Faculty and Professor
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor MI
(734)615-8281
——————————
You can say that again…
Heh. But no. Twice might be some click-glitch, three times is spam. 😉
Oh, I know. But, you know me by now: never let a chance for smart-aleck-ery go by.
Heh, I actually look for your comments, Grizz, because I so love your punny humor. 😛
I hope to actually write a guest article for one site or another some day. No, that is not a hint.
Pitch it, Grizz, you can reach the boss (William Jacobson) via our contact link.
Nah, just that I hit the wrong “reply” (handheld device), and could not delete the reply attached to the incorrect msg.
Stand by for the lies about “assaults” and “harassment” and “racism”, etc. to come out.
It won’t matter if they are true because the process is the punishment.
This is going to backfire. And I’ll have my popcorn ready for this. Biden’s doing himself no favors or the Democrat party by allowing the FBI to waste time and resources going after school board meetings.
“…allowing FBI to waste time and resources…”
What else are they going to do with them?
Set people up in perjury traps.
Go to college campus demonstrations, join in, then advocate blowing something up, like the one in San Diego wanting to bring down the Coronado Bridge around the time of Kent State.
Keep the Klan going.
Shoot the wives of white separatists who just want to be left alone.
This is the juncture where they start forming lists of “hate groups” and individuals promoting racism and hate.
This is the juncture where charming, photogenic parents like Nicole Solas who tell a human story will be replaced by cold, faceless statistics that can be shaped into an evil narrative of extreme danger to the safety of polite society and particularly children. It’s easier to slaughter large herds of dangerous animals than a few likable human beings. You can get statistics to say anything you want.
Garland has to be among the worst AG’s in history. Holder level hack.
Ms. Solas, if you read this site please never give up your fight. You have a few real Americans behind you.
You vote for Dhimmi-crats and empower them in office, you predictably receive obnoxious, vindictive, thuggish, brazenly totalitarian behavior and antics from their apparatchiks. Cause and effect, as immutable as any law of physics. Now, many Dhimmi-crats are going to learn what conservative Americans possessing common sense and rationality already knew and know.
Be careful, FBI, some soccer moms might bring orange slices that weren’t grown sustainably!
Sustainably! Yes, indeed. Yesterday, while at McDonalds, I sat down next to a rather heavy-set man who was working on his his second Big Mac. We engaged in a bit of casual conversation and then I asked him, “What do think about our government’s position on sustainable eating?.” He wiped his mouth and said, “Let’s go Brandon.”
I really did “LOL at that! You made my morning.
Heard Nicole on The Wilkow Majority today and she is – as Tim Young sad – “a badass”!! Keep up the great work, Nicole!
I wonder if the Kingstown school board purchased the Panorama program for its schools?? I’m sure Ms. Solas knows now!!
Ummm, guess the FBI hasn’t changed much since Hoover left..