A Jan. 6 revolt defendant who was pardoned by President Donald Trump is now combating to get his job again at Kansas State College with again pay years after college officers fired him.
William Pope is one among tons of of individuals whose prison instances related to the lethal Capitol assault have been dismissed final week. Since his costs have been dropped, he reached out to Kansas State College to demand that he be reinstated to his former place as a graduate instructing assistant.
In his letter to the college’s president, Pope said, “I WON MY CASE. There at the moment are no felony or misdemeanor costs towards me to stop me from being employed by Kansas State College … and it’s time for the college to proper this fallacious.”
He added that if his outdated place will not be at the moment out there, then he’ll accept 4 years of again pay and three years of future equal pay to cowl his instructional bills as he completes his dissertation.
If the varsity doesn’t adjust to both demand, Pope stated that he’s ready to file a federal lawsuit looking for thousands and thousands of {dollars} in damages alleging “wrongful termination” that “explicitly violated the Larger Training Act … which protects scholar speech and affiliation rights.”
He additionally threatened to file a prison grievance asking the Division of Justice to “examine Kansas State College’s conspiracy with the FBI to deprive me of my rights.”
Pope, who ran for a Topeka Metropolis Council seat in 2019, was arrested in February 2021 after surrendering to federal authorities.
A U.S. Capitol police officer informed the FBI that he encountered Pope on Jan. 6 after attempting to dam rioters from coming into an east aspect entrance of the constructing, in response to courtroom paperwork cited by The Kansas Metropolis Star. Pope resisted the officer after which blocked authorities from closing the door so different folks might storm the constructing.
Surveillance footage confirmed Pope and his brother standing outdoors the places of work belonging to former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That video confirmed Pope placing the workplace doorways with a flagpole in an try to interrupt in.
Each he and his brother have been indicted. Pope was charged with two felonies and 6 misdemeanors and represented himself in his case. A choose dismissed one among his felony counts and two misdemeanors final 12 months.
His jury trial was initially scheduled to start out in December however was delayed till June 2, 2025. Nevertheless, his total case was dropped as soon as Trump granted clemency to roughly 1,500 folks convicted for the Capitol breach and directed the Legal professional Basic to dismiss all pending instances.
In response to his letter, a Ok-State spokeswoman informed The Star, “The college totally embraces relevant privateness laws and extra info on this case will not be out there to share.”
Pope additionally took to X to faucet customers sympathetic to his trigger to share his mission and message the college’s account on his behalf.
“For nearly 4 years, I put my Ph.D. program on maintain to defend myself towards January 6 costs. I embarrassed the federal government in courtroom and gained my case,” Pope wrote. “Now my purpose is to finish my dissertation analysis by 2026, and graduate with a Ph.D. in Management Communication from Kansas State College.”
Larry Brock, and Air Drive veteran who was sentenced to 2 years in jail for his function within the Capitol assault posted that he helps Pope’s efforts to get his job again, stating that he “did nothing on January 6 however train his First Modification rights and your doing the precise factor can be a credit score to KSU.”
Many others additionally inspired Pope to battle on and referred to as for the varsity to reinstate him, arguing that his termination was untimely.
“Ok-State – As a KS resident, I respectfully request that you simply return this former KSU teacher to his instructing place,” one particular person wrote. “He was apparently prematurely fired based mostly upon costs stemming from overzealous prosecution of First Modification exercise. He was not discovered responsible of any crime.”
Others weren’t satisfied by Pope’s argument.
“Let me get this straight,” posted Kevin Ross. “So that you took half in a riot the place folks broke into the capital constructing with a view to overturn the election and acquired fired for it. Now you’re suing the faculty for firing you to your felony? Good luck with that.”
Some had hassle believing Pope “gained” his case when it was merely dismissed attributable to Trump’s government order.
“I assume being pardoned is one solution to ‘win your case,’” another person commented.
