Twelve FBI agents who were fired this year for taking a knee during racial justice protests in the summer of 2020 are suing the Bureau and its director, alleging unlawful retaliation.
The former special agents—together with nearly 200 years of experience—say they once received awards for disrupting mass shootings, exposing foreign spies and thwarting cyber attacks. They contend they never received crowd-control training nor had riot shields, gas masks or helmets when they faced volatile crowds in Washington, D.C., in June 2020.
Filed Monday in federal court in Washington, the lawsuit describes the agents as vastly outnumbered and backed against the wall of the National Archives as unrest spread after the killing of George Floyd. The complaint says they kneeled to de-escalate a tense, potentially dangerous situation, not to make a partisan statement.
“Mindful of the potentially catastrophic consequences, Plaintiffs knew that a split-second misjudgment by any of them could ignite an already-charged national climate and trigger further violence and unrest,” the suit says. It was filed by former Justice Department prosecutor Mary Dohrmann of the Washington Litigation Group.
The Justice Department inspector general reviewed the incident in 2024 and found no misconduct, but video of the episode went viral and critics portrayed the kneeling as a political act. Before leaving office, President Trump also publicized a negative post about the matter.
The lawsuit alleges that after Kash Patel became FBI director this year, he targeted the agents involved. Several were removed from supervisory roles, a new investigation was opened, and while that probe was pending the agents were all fired in September—ending them in a manner the suit says bypassed usual FBI misconduct procedures. Their dismissal letters cited “unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of government,” language attributed to Patel.
During his confirmation hearing, Patel said he would honor internal review processes; the suit accuses him of breaking that pledge for political reasons. It also says the abrupt firings disrupted important work, including evidence collection in Utah after the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and support for the Trump administration’s executive order on “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful.”
The case alleges violations of the agents’ First Amendment right to free association and their Fifth Amendment right to due process. The plaintiffs are seeking reinstatement and back pay. The FBI declined to comment on pending litigation.