When parents learned that federal agencies had coordinated with a national education group to target them as “domestic terrorists” for speaking out against gender and race ideologies at school board meetings, it galvanized a growing national parental rights movement.
SPLC employees visited the White House 11 times in the past three years, including six meetings with President Joe Biden, according to the Heritage Foundation.
“It reminds us very much of what they did with the teachers,” Mike Howell, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, told The Epoch Times.
“It was clear as day to me—the Left had figured out how to manipulate the system,” he said.
Among the federal agencies that refused to turn over records were the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Department of Education, and the FBI, according to the Heritage Foundation.
Mr. Howell said that someone has to stand up for parents targeted by a federal system “weaponized” against them.
“We know that the radical Southern Poverty Law Center has targeted the patriots at Moms for Liberty, which resulted in an unhinged mob harassment campaign,” he added.
Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, said in a statement that the “SPLC put a target on our backs by falsely accusing us of anti-government extremism.”
“Exercising our free speech rights to attend public school board meetings that decide how our public schools operate is not ‘extremism.’ It is American,” Ms. Justice said.
Mr. Howell said he believes there is a systemic pattern of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies under the Biden administration using “complaints” to launch politically motivated cases.
The SPLC’s credibility has been questioned by conservatives in terms of its “hate map” and involvement in protests.
The agitators destroyed construction equipment at the facility that critics call “Cop City,” the article stated. No injuries were reported.
Mr. Howell said that starting with the Obama administration, there has been a fundamental shift in government operations.
The federal government now uses non-governmental organizations to “do the things that otherwise cannot be done” to get around protections in the U.S. Constitution, he said.
The same thing is happening with commercial service providers that surveil cell phones and social media, he said.
Mr. Howell said he believes the federal agencies are investigating Moms for Liberty because they refused to release any information when asked for records.
“If you’re a mom who wants to protect your children at school, that is completely within the civil rights regime to do so. And so when the FBI act on these things, they’re in violation of those civil rights,” Mr. Howell said.
“The problem is, who’s going to sue to protect that? And what kind of judge will agree that these things have gone so far afield?” he asked.
Mr. Howell said that the judge assigned to the lawsuit seeking the documents is going before District of Columbia U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan.
Judge Chutkan is presiding over the election interference case against former President Donald Trump, who asked the judge to recuse herself for making what the former president contends are biased statements against him.
She also has been criticized for handing down harsh sentences against those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the Capitol.
The SPLC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
