Ex-FBI agents' lawsuit could prove complex
By: BrieAnna J. Frank
USA Today
..... A dozen former FBI agents sued President Donald Trump's administration on December 8 [2025] in part of First Amendment grounds over their firing for kneeling during protest over George Floyd;s murder in 2020 in Minneapolis.
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The complaint, filed in U.S. district Court for the District of Columbia against FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, references nine unnamed women and three unnamed men as plaintiffs.
..... It alleges that the agents were fired because the administration "perceived Plaintiffs to be affiliated with , and supportive of, President Trump's partisan opponents and not affiliated with President Trump.
..... "that is a violation of the First Amendment," it says.
.... But experts told USA Today it's a complex case that may not ultimately hinge on First Amendment claims, considering that the complaint says the agents' actions were not meant as political statements but that they were interpreted as such by the administration.
..... The White House referred USA Today to the FBI for comment. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation, Reuters reported. The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The agents were on patrol in Washington during the protest when they were "confronted by a mob that included hostile individuals" on June 4, 2020, according to the lawsuit.
..... It said the crowd was shouting and gesturing toward the agents, who were "literally backed up against a wall of the national Archives."
..... Some members of the crowd called for them to "take a knee,: as law enforcement personnel had done in other protests.
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Their decision to do so was described as a 'tactical decision focused on saving American lives and maintaining order," according to the lawsuit.
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The FBI and Department of Justice reviewed the incident at the time and determined the agents hadn't violated policy. No disciplinary action was taken.
..... But under Patel's leadership five years later, the agents were fired in September. [2025]
..... The lawsuit said a letter signed by Patel and sent to the agents accused them of demonstrating "unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality political weaponize of government."
..... It's an "unusual" case that has a lot of nuance, said Ken Paulson, the director of Middle Tennessee State University's Free Speech Center and a former USA today editor in chief.
..... Though the lawsuit makes First Amendment claims, it also says the agents "kneeled for a political tactical reasons to defuse a volatile situation,not as an expressive political act."
..... The Trump administration, the lawsuit alleges, fired the agents "in a partisan effort to retaliate against FBI employees that they perceived to be sympathetic to President Trump political opponents."
..... That makes it a "much harder case to win," at least on First Amendment grounds, because it "requires proving what's inside someone's head," according to senior attorney Brett Nolan of the Institute for Free Speech.
..... Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today
..... BrieAnna J. Frank's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.