F.B.I. Set Plan to Track Threats Against School Boards and Teachers

The F.B.I. has begun to track threats against school administrators, teachers and board members to assess the extent of the problem, part of the Justice Department’s effort to grapple with the heated and occasionally violent clashes over culture war issues like the teaching of racism and mask requirements.

Last month the F.B.I. created a “threat tag” to apply to reports of threats, harassment and violence against school officials, to comply with a memo sent by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, according to a directive issued on Oct. 20 to the bureau’s criminal and counterterrorism divisions that House Republicans made public on Tuesday.

Such tags are used by the bureau to track trends and share information across offices, and are commonly used for crimes like drug offenses and human trafficking, the bureau said.

Republicans in Congress have seized on the Justice Department’s focus on threats of violence toward school administrators, teachers and school board members to buttress their contention that the Biden administration and Democrats are seeking to intimidate or silence parents who object to local school policies.

Some Republicans have suggested that the participation of the F.B.I.’s counterterrorism division in the effort indicates that the administration is equating parents with terrorists, an assertion that Mr. Garland has dismissed as baseless.