WASHINGTON – After laying off virtually all remaining members of a key "peacemaking" unit that had defused police-protester conflicts, the Justice Department has quietly reversed course and rescinded the terminations of 12 of them, USA TODAY has learned.
The members of DOJ’s Community Relations Service, who were given "Reduction in Force" letters last Sept. 29, received another letter late the night of Jan. 9 telling them they have the option to return.
The employees can’t return to CRS, though, because the entire 57-person unit was dismantled by the Trump administration last fall after it concluded that CRS' "mission does not comport" with its "law enforcement and litigating priorities," as USA TODAY reported on Jan. 10.
The recission letter was sent after 9 p.m. last Friday evening, seven hours after USA TODAY began asking the Justice Department about the layoffs, and whether it had contingency plans to send experts to defuse protests that erupted after two shootings by federal immigration enforcement agents.
The Justice Department confirmed the callbacks in a legal filing Jan. 13 in federal court in Boston, in a court case in which civil rights groups allege the firings were part of an unlawful effort by the Trump administration to dismantle the historic conflict resolution organization.
