FBI Agents Given Boot For Kneeling Before BLM Sue Trump Admin

Twelve former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents who were fired after kneeling during a 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest in Washington, D.C., are now suing the agency in an attempt to get their jobs back, according to news coverage.

In September, the FBI fired several agents who were photographed taking a knee during a BLM protest in the nation’s capital in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, on May 25, 2020, the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing three anonymous sources. The former agents claim in a lawsuit filed on Monday that FBI Director Kash Patel unlawfully ousted them because they were seen as not being aligned politically with President Donald Trump, the AP reported.

The FBI declined to comment on pending litigation.

The fired FBI agents are now claiming in the lawsuit that they knelt during the protest not as a form of political expression, but instead were aiming to defuse a situation that was potentially at risk of escalating, NPR reported on Monday, citing court papers.