Earlier this year, 12 FBI agents were fired for kneeling during Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020. Now, those 12 agents are suing the Bureau and FBI Director Kash Patel for unlawful retaliation. 

The lawsuit claimed that the agents—who together have almost 200 years of experience—were forced to kneel to prevent the large number of protesters near the National Archives building in Washington, D.C., from overtaking them. Kneeling had become a symbolic gesture of revolt against the overpolicing of Black communities after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, NPR reports. 

"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," said the lawsuit, filed by former Justice Department prosecutor Mary Dohrmann, NPR reports.

The Justice Department reviewed the incident in 2024 and found that the officers had done nothing wrong. The event went viral on social media, causing those who were against the BLM protest to attack the officers for kneeling, claiming it was a political act.

After FBI Director Kash Patel joined the Bureau this year, the lawsuit claims that he began going after all of the agents involved in the viral moment. 

“Several of the plaintiffs were yanked from supervisory roles at the FBI. Officials launched a new investigation. The matter was still pending when they were all fired in September, shortcutting typical procedures for FBI misconduct probes,” NPR reports. 

In their dismissal letters, Patel wrote: "You have demonstrated unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of government."

Patel claimed during his confirmation hearing that he would honor the internal review process. But the lawsuit accuses him of breaking his word to senators to appease the president.