In yet another attempt by Democrats to link those who acted terribly on January 6, 2021, with conservatives standing up on other issues, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) compared conservative parents who have protested at school board meetings to the miscreants of January 6.
Johnson’s comments dovetailed with first lady Jill Biden implicitly criticizing parents who have protested against the inclusion of inappropriate books at school libraries by insisting “All books should be in the library. All books. This is America. We don’t ban books.”
“January 6, 2021 will never be forgotten: an infamous day in American history. MAGA Republicans descended upon the Capitol, engaged in an insurrection; they occupied the Capitol,” Johnson started his diatribe. “Five people were killed; hundreds injured; including hundreds of Capitol Hill police officers, attacked and bludgeoned. It was a day that we’ll never forget.”
Then Johnson, who in a 2010 House Armed Services Committee hearing asked a Navy admiral if overpopulation could cause the island of Guam to “tip over and capsize,” linked January 6 to concerned parents protesting at school board meetings: “And people on the local level at affected school board meetings. They won’t forget the MAGA Republicans descending on their school board meetings after January 6, like January 6.”
Johnson declared that parents protesting at school board meetings were part of a “coordinated attack happening across the country,” adding, “Americans won’t forget about it. School board members, teachers, administrators subjected to violence, threats of violence, harassment, intimidation.”
Then Johnson segued to the infamous letter written by the National School Boards Association in which they claimed that some of the actions at school board meetings “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
Johnson claimed that in response to the “threats of violence, harassment, intimidation,” “the National School Boards Association sent a letter to the Biden administration seeking federal help. Things had gotten so far out of hand.”
“And by the way, there’s not one scintilla of evidence, either direct or indirect, that there was any coordination between the Biden administration and the National School Boards Association that caused that letter to be sent seeking federal assistance,” he insisted.
Yet the original letter acknowledged “recent discussions with White House and U.S. Department of Education staff on many critical issues facing public schools, including threats school officials are receiving.” Additionally, Chip Slaven, the CEO of the National School Boards Association sent an email announcing the letter “was sent to President Biden concerning threats to public schools and school board members,” adding, “Additionally, in talks over the last several weeks with White House staff, they requested additional information on some of the specific threats, so the letter also details many of the incidents that have been occurring.’”
Viola Garcia, the president of NSBA, sent an email on October 2 stating, “NSBA has been engaged with the White House and the Department of Education on these and other issues related to the pandemic for several weeks now.”
The National School Boards Association ultimately apologized for the letter, stating, “… there was no justification for some of the language included in the letter. We should have had a better process in place to allow for consultation on a communication of this significance. We apologize also for the strain and stress this situation has caused you and your organizations.”
Democrat Congressman Hank Johnson just said that "MAGA Republicans descended on school board meetings just like they did on January 6."
This is what they think of concerned parents who dared to air frustrations at their school boards last year. pic.twitter.com/Rdlj1lDH1V
— 1776 Project Pac (@1776ProjectPac) September 14, 2022