Over 6,000 government employees have backed a State Department employee challenging the Biden administration’s coronavirus vaccination requirement.
Marcus Thornton, the initiator of the Feds 4 Medical Freedom campaign, is a former Border Patrol agent for the DHS.
Most federal employees want President Biden to reverse his September executive order requiring all government employees and contractors to be completely vaccinated.
Marcus Thornton, a State Department employee, is the man behind the movement known as Feds 4 Medical Freedom.
"We realized that nobody else was standing up for federal employees in court," Thornton said, so they took matters into their own hands.
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 28, 2022
Lack of Representation and Restrictions
After chatting with coworkers, Thornton found he wasn’t alone in his refusal to be vaccinated. He thought many of the 4.3 million federal workers nationwide opposed the mandate.
Thornton and his colleagues began contacting legal firms. In Washington, the Federal Practice Group has received over 2,000 inquiries about being represented.
He said emails inquire about the litigation and how to become engaged every day.
“”All we want is to keep doing our jobs as we have for the previous two years.”
Thornton’s legal work complemented his 9-to-5 government position.
He stated he spends eight to ten hours establishing Feds 4 Medical Freedom and answering government officials’ questions.
Getting the word out was difficult.
In addition to its website and minimal media coverage, Feds 4 Medical Freedom has grown via word of mouth.
Companies have blocked or prohibited pages concerning the group. Thousands of Border Patrol personnel have joined the organization.
Facebook has repeatedly removed the organization’s page, but Feds 4 Medical Freedom has effectively appealed.
It also has an Instagram account, but it cannot promote on either network, which Thornton says limits its potential to reach crucial demographics and grow.
According to Thornton, it is unclear why Feds 4 Medical Freedom’s content “infringes community guidelines.” The group’s PayPal account was suspended, and many email providers abandoned them.
Discrimination and Unfair Treatments
In the last five months, Feds 4 Medical Freedom has raised money for legal fees and a public relations agency.
The highest gift was under $2,000. Thornton claimed no one on the board is getting paid.
The Federal Practice Group filed a complaint in Washington, D.C., the Middle District of Florida, and Boyden Gray and Associates filed one in the Southern District of Texas.
It won its first important battle in Texas last week.
We did it!!!!!! Temporary injunction halting the federal vaccine mandate for federal employees NATIONWIDE. #NoVaccineMandates #defeatthemandatesDC #freedom #feds4medfreedom #holdtheline #FedUp @PatokaMartha @ChildrensHD @FoxNews @newsmax @cnnbrk @joerogan pic.twitter.com/0dARVv14RA
— Feds For Medical Freedom (@feds4medfreedom) January 21, 2022
The news comes too late for government employees who’ve already been fired or placed on unpaid leave.
Members of Feds 4 Medical Freedom had already been disciplined before the Texas court imposed a nationwide injunction.
Thornton hopes the Supreme Court will overturn the obligation on government employees and contractors, but he wants the government to make amends.
“They need to be held accountable for what happened, for the discrimination we faced. A guarantee that what happened to us won’t happen again must occur,” Thornton added.
“Nobody should have to pick between a profession and a medical choice. This is our objective, and we will keep campaigning until it is achieved.”
