12 FBI agents fired for kneeling during racial justice protest file lawsuit
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WASHINGTON (AP) — Twelve former FBI agents fired after kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest in Washington sued Monday to get their jobs back, saying their action had been intended to de-escalate a volatile situation and was not meant as a political gesture.
The agents say in their lawsuit that they were fired in September by Director Kash Patel because they were perceived as not being politically affiliated with President Donald Trump. But they say their decision to take a knee on June 4, 2020, days after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, has been misinterpreted as political expression.
The lawsuit says the agents were assigned to patrol the nation's capital during a period of civil unrest prompted by Floyd's death. Lacking protective gear or extensive training in crowd control, the agents became outnumbered by hostile crowds they encountered and decided to kneel to the ground in hopes of defusing the tension, the lawsuit said. The tactic worked, the lawsuit asserts — the crowds dispersed, no shots were fired and the agents "saved American lives" that day.
"Plaintiffs were performing their duties as FBI Special Agents, employing reasonable de-escalation to prevent a potentially deadly confrontation with American citizens: a Washington Massacre that could have rivaled the Boston Massacre in 1770," says the lawsuit, which was filed by attorneys with the Washington Litigation Group.
The FBI declined to comment Monday.
The lawsuit in federal court in Washington represents the latest court challenge to a personnel purge that has roiled the FBI, targeting both top-ranking supervisors and line agents, as Patel has worked to reshape the nation's premier law enforcement agency. Besides the kneeling agents, other employees pushed out in recent months have worked on investigations involving Trump or his allies and in one case displayed an LGBTQ+ flag in his workspace.
After photographs emerged of the agents taking a knee, the FBI conducted an internal review, with the then-deputy director determining that the agents had no political motive and should not be punished. The Justice Department inspector general reached a similar conclusion and expressed concern that the department had put the agents in a precarious situation that day, the lawsuit says.
It was only after Patel took over the bureau in February that the FBI took a different posture.
Multiple kneeling agents were removed from supervisory positions last spring and a fresh disciplinary inquiry was launched that resulted in the agents being interviewed about their actions. That internal process was still pending when the agents in September received terse letters telling them they were being terminated because of "unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of government."
"Defendants dismissed Plaintiffs in a partisan effort to retaliate against FBI employees that they perceived to be sympathetic to President Trump's political opponents," the lawsuit states. "And Defendants acted summarily to avoid creating any further administrative record that would reveal their actions as vindictive and unjustified."
The plaintiffs are among roughly 22 agents from different squads across Washington who were deployed to downtown D.C. on June 4, 2020 to demonstrate a visible law enforcement process during a time of protests in the nation's capital and across the country.
The lawsuit asserts that the agents were thrust into a chaotic scene, saying that a crowd recognized them as being from the FBI and "intentionally" pushed toward them, becoming "increasingly agitated" and shouting and gesturing toward them. Some in the crowd began chanting "take a knee," a gesture that at that point was widely recognized as a sign of solidarity with Floyd, who was pinned to the pavement by police with a knee on his neck, and the protest movement more generally.
The agents closest to the crowd were the first to kneel. After the crowd's attention turned to the other agents who remained standing, the other FBI employees followed suit, taking a knee in recognition that it was the "most tactically sound means to prevent violence and to maintain order." The crowd moved on.
"Plaintiffs demonstrated tactical intelligence in choosing between deadly force — the only force available to them as a practical matter, given their lack of adequate crowd control equipment — and a less-than-lethal response that would save lives and keep order," the lawsuit says. "The Special Agents selected the option that prevented casualties while maintaining their law enforcement mission. Each Plaintiff kneeled for apolitical tactical reasons to defuse a volatile situation, not as an expressive political act."
In addition to seeking reinstatement, the lawsuit also asks for a court judgment declaring the firings unconstitutional, backpay and other monetary damages and an expungement of personnel files related to the terminations.
ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department.
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Does anyone doubt that these FBI agents had an ideology that might cause them to undermine the current policies of the DOJ or FBI?
The other issue is the legality of the firings. Right now, the SCOTUS is deciding that very issue in a relevant case (Trump v Slaughter.)
Still in full throttle revenge mode i see.
I wonder if FBI agents sign away some of their constitutional rights like service members do when they join up. I'm kind of looking forward to random acts of revenge and retribution violence towards maga scum for at least 10 years after trump exits. they're not going to get off free and clear for trying to hand america over to christo-fascist plutocrats.
Since they are federal employees, I'm sure they do. But the government can't tell you how to vote or think politically.
Who the fuck cares who they are politically affiliated with???? They are still US citizens and maintain most of the same rights as ordinary citizens. And the only thing I can think of they can't do is engage in political activity while in uniform. And they clearly were not doing this.
allow me to put the maga concept of america's future into an easily understandable perspective. trump is hitler and democrats are jews ...
I can see that
When people on the left are held accountable it is called "revenge?"
Got it.
The executive branch is run by the Chief Executive, even when it is someone other than Obama or Biden.
Please explain these current policies that don't include fair treatment of all Americans?
How would FBI agents kneeling down for George Floyd, be expected to investigate the rioters who murdered & looted in his name?
Nope.
Welcome back. I'm glad you are still here.
Meanwhile president Trump said last night that America needs more white people.
He meant whiter white people.
He wants those with high levels of "white pride" aka completely ignorant of American history.
as white as a walmart sheet and pillowcase in the light of a burning cross ...
Will brown hair and green eyes pass the Aryan purity test?
... right up until your last vote for them is cast.
Did you tell him that we can only bring in needy non-whites who will get assistance and are expected to vote for democrats.
I think you need to inform him.
Can you provide an exact quote or is this another "out of my ass" moment?
Their positions, like service members, prevent them from taking part in political events while "in uniform". Yes, I know FBI don't have "uniforms". But their body armor, and some headgear identify the agency they are with making them officially on duty and giving the intrepretation that they are supporting a political position / expression.
It's that fkng simple.