More than 70 State Department officials pen letter to Blinken flagging 'antisemitic' employee
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More than 70 State Department officials sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken about "an openly antisemitic department employee" and calling for him to be removed.
"Not only is his propagation of antisemitic ideas highly disturbing and offensive to Jewish and non-Jewish employees alike, but as Jewish employees, we feel his presence at the Department is threatening," states the letter, which was organized by the Jewish Americans and Friends in Foreign Affairs employee group.
At issue is the continued employment of Fritz Berggren, a U.S. foreign service officer who maintains a website that calls for the formation of Christian nation-states while writing and publishing videos critical of Jews and the LGBTQ community.
The group says the website, bloodandfaith.com, has been online since 2017 and should disqualify Berggren from continued employment.
"Fritz Berggren’s continued employment is an affront to all of us and the values we share. While there may be HR processes underway, they do not appear to be having an impact and are apparently proceeding very slowly as Berggren has been posting this content since at least 2017," the letter, which was sent to Blinken on July 28, reads.
Berggren did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.
The letter comes after a July incident in which employees discovered a swastika carved into an elevator at the State Department’s headquarters in Washington in July. Blinken and President Biden both quickly condemned the incident and the State Department launched an investigation.
"While there is no evidence that Berggren is behind the swastika carved into the Department elevator, his continued employment with seemingly no consequences sends a message of impunity that has undoubtedly contributed to the atmosphere in which someone would dare to do such a thing," the letter reads.
Blinken responded to the letter on Aug. 9, promising the group that he takes the matter seriously.
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"I want to assure you that the Department treats reports of alleged misconduct with the utmost seriousness," Blinken said, adding that he could not comment on the specific employee "for privacy reasons" but noted that employees engaged in discriminatory behavior can face penalties "up to and including separation when warranted."
The State Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.
