Over 70 State Department Staff Pen Letter Asking Blinken to Remove 'Anti-Semitic' Employee

More than 70 employees at the U.S. Department of State signed a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for the removal of "an openly antisemitic department employee" who runs a website on which he posts anti-Semitic remarks, Foreign Policy reported.

Along with those remarks, Fritz Berggren, who posts his views on BloodAndFaith.com, has also reportedly targeted LGBTQ+ individuals and called for the creation of Christian nation-states. In his posts, he has called Jewish people "the seed of the Serpent, that brood of vipers," claimed LGBTQ+ individuals "groom children for destruction," and written, "If the U.S. Refuses To Be A Christian Nation, It Will Be Destroyed."

Berggren, who serves as a mid-ranking Foreign Service officer, uses both his name and image on the website. His affiliation with the State Department was first reported by Politico in late February of this year. The letter, organized by the Jewish Americans and Friends in Foreign Affairs State Department employee group and the U.S. Agency for International Development, lamented the lengthiness of the human resources review process.

"Fritz Berggren's continued employment is an affront to all of us and the values we share," the letter obtained by Foreign Policy, writes. "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 goes on to write that employees find Berggren's continued presence at the department "threatening," drawing on the fact that in one of his writings he appears to make a call to action. In this referenced post, Berggren writes, "The world gasps in horror with each new 'endangered' sub-species, but cheers the elimination of White culture from whole regions of the earth. This will not stop until White people stop it—we have been handmaidens to our own demise."

While the Department could face challenges in removing him on the grounds of free speech protections under the First Amendment, Berggren's words, particularly the previous post, could be punishable if they're found to be inciting violence that could likely lead to "imminent lawless action."

In late July, reporting noted that a swastika was found carved into an elevator within the State Department's Washington headquarters. There has been no proof that Berggren was responsible for defacing the elevator, but the crime heightened concerns within the department and led to both Blinken and President Joe Biden denouncing the act.

In his response to Foreign Policy, Berggren avoided directly addressing the letter. Instead, the magazine reported that in a statement he said he was "heartened" to have Jewish readers and added that he hoped they will one day convert to Christianity and preach the message that "Jesus is the Son of God!"

A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek that on July 27 Blinken sent a message to staff where he stated "this type of rhetoric has no place in the United States, at the State Department, or anywhere else. And we must be relentless in standing up and rejecting it."

The spokesperson provided Newsweek with the following statement regarding the potential actions it could take when presented with such a situation.

"Although we cannot comment on individual personnel matters, we can confirm that allegations that an employee has violated a law, regulation, or Department policy are taken seriously," it said. "When such allegations are substantiated, the Department may take disciplinary action, up to and including separation, when appropriate. The Department does not take such actions lightly and must comply with all required procedures before doing so."

Newsweek contacted Berggren for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.