FBI agents allege wrongful termination for kneeling during US protest

"The lawsuit, filed in a US District Court on Monday, states that the agents were fired as part of a politicised campaign of retribution by the Trump administration over perceived sympathy for the protests, prompted by the police killing of George Floyd. The agents have said that they kneeled during the protests in order to de-escalate a tense situation and that it was not meant as an act of political support."

"The lawsuit states that Trump had attacked the agents, nine of whom are women, on social media before returning to the White House in 2024 and that FBI Director Kash Patel was intent on firing them, despite a previous review by FBI officials who concluded that the agents had kneeled to help ease tensions rather than as an act of support."

"Defendants targeted plaintiffs in particular because of plaintiffs' use of deescalation with civilians that defendants perceived as opposed to, or otherwise not affiliated with, President Trump, the lawsuit states. It states that the agents had encountered a hostile crowd and that by kneeling, they may have avoided a deadly confrontation that could have rivalled the Boston Massacre in 1770, a reference to the shooting of protesters by British forces in Boston before the American Revolution."

Twelve former FBI agents filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination by the Trump administration for taking a knee during racial justice protests in Washington DC in 2020. The agents say they kneeled to de-escalate a hostile crowd after the police killing of George Floyd, and that the gesture was not political support. The suit alleges the firings were part of a politicised campaign of retribution over perceived sympathy for the protests. The lawsuit states that Trump attacked the agents on social media before returning to the White House in 2024 and that FBI Director Kash Patel sought their firing despite an internal review finding the kneeling eased tensions. The suit claims defendants targeted plaintiffs because de-escalation was perceived as opposing President Trump and that kneeling may have prevented a deadly confrontation comparable to the Boston Massacre.

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