Mother shares photo of fed cars outside school board meeting

A mother-of-six who led the charge to remove sexually explicit books from school libraries has claimed federal law enforcement officials flew helicopters and stationed cop cars outside a school board meeting in to intimidate parents – after AG Merrick Garland was accused of treating parents like ‘terrorists’.

Stacy Langton appeared on  Fox & Friends on Wednesday and claimed that federal agents and unmarked law enforcement vehicles were seen outside a board meeting of the Fairfax County Public Schools last week. 

Langton claimed that there was a heavy federal law enforcement presence just days after she and others protested outside the Department of Justice in Washington, .

She made the allegation as Attorney General Merrick Garland was accused of targeting Fairfax County parents protesting aspects of the school curriculum as ‘domestic terrorists.’ 

The Biden administration’s top prosecutor has come under fire over a directive the Justice Department issued earlier this month promising more law enforcement resources for schools amid a rise in tensions and threats at school board meetings over matters like critical race theory, coronavirus precautions and transgender bathroom policies.

In his memo Garland said there had been ‘a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff who participate in the vital work of running our nation´s public schools.’ 

While Garland never mentioned or referred to parents as terrorists, his memo came after the National School Boards Association sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for help.

The letter claimed that clashes between the school board and parents could amount to ‘domestic terrorism’.  

Langton, however, believes she and other parents are being targeted by the feds and says she has received death threats in response to the protests.

‘I have threats against my children by name, I have been followed in my car with my children, they have my vehicle, they know where I live, and I don’t know who’s putting somebody up to this, but it’s obviously meant to intimidate me,’ said Langton.  

‘I’m not getting a lot of sleep right now, nobody’s sleeping in my house because we can’t be sure that we’re safe,’ she said. 

‘So, I understand Merrick Garland is actually testifying today at the Senate and he’s gonna talk about mobilizing the FBI against parents. 

‘Maybe he should mobilize the FBI into who’s threatening my family.’ 

Langton posted a tweet on Friday showing a marked Department of Homeland Security vehicle that was operated by the DHS’s Federal Protective Service, the agency unit responsible for safeguarding federal properties.

‘Went to @fcpsnews (Fairfax County Public Schools) #schoolboardmeeting last night,’ Langton wrote in the caption of Friday’s tweet.

‘Heavy #Fed presence. Unmarked fed vehicles, @DHSgov vehicles, even helicopter circling overhead with spotlight on Moms & Dads.

‘All on the night #DOJ Merrick Garland testifies. A little over the top, no?’

Other internet users, however, claimed that the photo Langton posted was of Gallows Road, a busy intersection in Fairfax County, and that it was not of parked cars outside the school board meeting.

Social media users also noted that northern Virginia is home to several federal buildings, and it is not uncommon to see federal law enforcement personnel driving by.

The school board meetings are usually held in a location on Gallows Road, but the image Langton posted appears to be that of flowing traffic, and not a parking lot as she suggested.

‘This is something that is incredible in America and it’s ridiculously un-American,’ Langton told Fox & Friends of the alleged law enforcement presence.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Langton, the Fairfax County Public Schools, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice seeking comment.

Langton last month forced FCPS to remove two books from school libraries, including an illustrated memoir that contains explicit illustrations of sexual encounters involving children.

She questioned the school board at a public meeting last month about the books’ availability in high school libraries.

As she quoted from explicit passages in the book, a school board member interrupted her and chastised her for using explicit language.

Another school board member defended the books by saying they are available only in high school libraries, not in grade schools.

The school system then announced that it was pulling Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison from circulation pending a more detailed review.

Gender Queer, an illustrated memoir, contains explicit illustrations of oral sex and masturbation.

The novel Lawn Boy contains graphic descriptions of sex between men and children.

Both books were previous winners of the American Library Association’s Alex Awards, which each year recognize ‘ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18.’

The controversy is the latest to befuddle Fairfax County’s school board, and other across Virginia and the country as conservative parents object to masks in schools, anti-racism curriculum, and policy changes requiring transgender students be referred to by their preferred pronouns.  

Republicans say Garland went too far in instructing Justice Department divisions to coordinate with local law enforcement.

An accompanying news release had mentioned the FBI, the department´s criminal division, national security division, civil rights division and other departments.

‘The obligation of the Justice Department is to protect the American people against violence and threats of violence and that particularly includes public officials,’ Garland said. 

Meanwhile, the NSBA has since apologized for comparing parents to domestic terrorists. 

‘As you all know, there has been extensive media and other attention recently around our letter to President Biden regarding threats and acts of violence against school board members,’ the NSBA wrote in a memo. 

‘We wanted to write to you directly to address this matter.’

‘On behalf of NSBA, we regret and apologize for adult the letter,’ the NSBA said, noting that ‘there was no justification for some of the language included in the letter.’

The NSBA had called for the use of measures like the PATRIOT Act, which is typically used to address terrorism. 

Sen. Tom Cotton tore into Garland during testimony before the  Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, telling him to ‘resign in disgrace.’

‘Thank God you are not on the Supreme Court,’ the Republican said, bringing up the touchy subject of Garland’s failed confirmation to the high court in 2016. President Obama appointed him and then-Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked his confirmation because it was an election year. 

‘You should resign in disgrace,’ Cotton told Garland. 

Cotton asked about a Loudoun County father who was dragged out of a school board meeting and arrested as he tried to tell the room his 15-year-old daughter had been raped by a boy dressed in a skirt at Stone Bridge High School in the girls’ bathroom.

Scott Smith says Loudoun County schools went out of their way to protect the child – who he called ‘a sexual predator’.  

Smith accused the school of covering up the incident to protect its new policy allowing students to use the bathroom they identify with.

The incident reportedly took place on May 28 and Scott was arrested on June 22.  

Two months after the incident, the boy – who has not been named because he is a juvenile – was arrested for forced sodomy.

And in October, he was arrested again on different charges for allegedly assaulting a different girl, at a different school. He is now in a juvenile detention center. 

The boy was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy for the May 28 attack and sexual battery for the October 6 attack, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said on Oct. 13. The Sheriff’s Office released the statement to clear up ‘misinformation’ regarding the case. 

On Tuesday the boy was found guilty of forcible sodomy and forcible fellatio, and will return to court on November 15 for sentencing. 

Scott and his wife Jessica Smith are now suing the county over the alleged attempted coverup. 

The lawsuit comes after the Smiths demanded Superintendent Scott Ziegler’s resignation for what they say was a cover-up of the incident. They say they are not anti-gay, but do not approve of ‘transgender kids’ stuff.’  

‘Do you apologize to Scott Smith and his 15-year-old daughter, judge?’ Cotton asked Garland. Cotton said that controversy had prompted the DOJ’s stepping in.  

Garland went on to say rape is ‘the most horrific crime I can imagine’ and that Scott is ‘entitled and protected by the First Amendment.’ 

‘This is shameful. Your testimony, your directive is shameful. Your performance is shameful,’ Cotton shot back.  

At the meeting on June 22, Loudoun County School Superintendent Scott Ziegler said the school had never had any form of incident inside a bathroom or locker room involving a transgender child.

‘To my knowledge, we don’t have any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms,’ he said first.

But an unearthed email reveals that on May 28, the day of the alleged rape , he sent an email to colleagues confirming that it had been reported. 

‘This afternoon, a female student alleged that a male student sexually assaulted her in the restroom,’ it read.

On October 15, Ziegler apologized for ‘failing’ to ensure the safety of students and prevent the alleged rape. 

Parents have been requesting the superintendent resign from his position, but he has yet to do so. 

He apologized for ‘misleading’ them on June 22 when he told a crowded meeting that there had been no sexual assaults on campus by transgender kids, and that predatory transgender people ‘do not exist.’

‘I regret that my comments were misleading and I apologize for the distress they caused families,’ he said.

During testimony on Wednesday, Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, asked Garland if he had any ‘second thoughts’ about his directive. 

‘I assume you’re going to revoke your extremely divisive memo that you said was instigated because of that letter [from the NSBA]?’ Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also asked. 

‘The letter that was subsequently sent does not change the association’s concern of violence or threats of violence. It alters some of the language in the letter … that we did not rely on and is not contained in my own memorandum,’ Garland said.

Garland said that he was not only concerned about school boards, but a ‘rising tide’ in violence against judges, prosecutors, election administrators, and others.