FBI agents fired for kneeling during 2020 protest sue over termination
FILE-FBI agents load materials into the back of a vehicle. Please note this is not a picture of the agents who filed the lawsuit. This is only a file photo. (Photo by Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)
FBI agents fired for kneeling during racial justice protests related to the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 have sued over their terminations from the agency.
The lawsuit filed on Dec. 8, and obtained by The New York Times and USA Today, alleges that the 12 former FBI agents, which include three men and nine women, claim they were fired for deescalating a confrontation with protesters and that their terminations were ordered by the Trump administration.
In the suit, obtained by The New York Times and USA Today, the agents also claim they were fired in September by FBI Director Kash Patel because they were perceived as not being politically associated with President Donald Trump.
What are FBI agents claiming in their lawsuit?
The backstory:
USA Today reported that FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi are named as defendants in the lawsuit. According to the suit, Patel allegedly tried to remove agents from their positions as soon as he was confirmed to his role in the agency.
The fired FBI agents worked at the agency’s Washington, D.C. field office when they were stationed on June 4, 2020, in downtown D.C. in response to protests after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, by police officer Derek Chauvin.
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Citing the lawsuit, the New York Times reported that the FBI agents were standing near the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. when a large crowd gathered around them "chanting, waving banners or closed fists, and throwing objects."
According to the lawsuit, some individuals in the crowd began shouting for the FBI agents to "take a knee." The agents complied and knelt to avoid an unnecessary confrontation between them and the crowd.
After pictures circulated of the FBI agents taking a knee, the FBI performed an internal review, with the then-deputy director, David Bowdich, concluding that the agents had no political motive for kneeling and shouldn’t face discipline.
Patel’s termination letter to FBI agents
The other side:
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the termination of the FBI agents in September. Citing the lawsuit, USA Today reported Patel wrote, "You have demonstrated unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of government."
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The New York Times reported that F.B.I. leaders who spoke to Patel after he was sworn in as the new bureau’s director in February understood that he planned to fire the agents, according to the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, the former agents are seeking to get their jobs back as well as backpay and other financial damages.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by The New York Times and USA Today, which cites the lawsuit filed by the former FBI agents. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.