FBI Agents Sue Kash Patel After Being Fired Over BLM Support — Claim Kneeling ‘Saved American Lives’
The FBI agents who kneeled during the George Floyd BLM riots were fired on Friday by the FBI.
A group of former FBI agents has filed a lawsuit against FBI Director Kash Patel and the federal government, alleging they were unlawfully dismissed because of their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
The lawsuit, filed by approximately a dozen agents, claims that soon after Patel assumed leadership of the FBI, he began efforts to remove agents who had kneeled during a 2020 protest response. The plaintiffs argue that the terminations were politically motivated and violated their constitutional rights.
According to the complaint, the agents were providing security in Washington, D.C., on June 4, 2020, during unrest following the death of George Floyd. While patrolling, they say they encountered a tense crowd that included hostile individuals as well as children. Lacking crowd-control equipment, the agents allege they chose to kneel as a de-escalation tactic to prevent violence.
The lawsuit states that the decision helped diffuse the situation and avoided a potentially deadly confrontation. None of the agents discharged their firearms, and the crowd ultimately dispersed without violence. The filing describes the action as a tactical judgment made in the interest of public safety.
The plaintiffs further claim that they would not have been fired had they held different perceived political views, asserting that agents associated with the January 6 protests were treated more favorably.
Mary Dohrmann, senior counsel at the Washington Litigation Group, said in a statement to POLITICO that Patel “targeted these patriotic and highly skilled FBI agents for purely partisan reasons.” She added that the firings represented “the true weaponization of government” and argued that public safety had been diminished as a result.
The agents were dismissed in September. At the time, Patel cited “unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of government” as the justification for the terminations.
The lawsuit seeks reinstatement, back pay, monetary damages, a declaration that the firings were unconstitutional, and the removal of related records from the agents’ personnel files.
The FBI and the Department of Justice have declined to comment on the pending litigation.
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