FBI Agents Sue Kash Patel After Being Fired Over BLM Support — Claim Kneeling ‘Saved American Lives’
A group of former FBI agents has filed a lawsuit against Director Kash Patel and the federal government after being fired for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
The dozen agents complained that almost immediately upon becoming director of the bureau, Patel began working to terminate all agents who had kneeled in support of the movement.
The lawsuit also claims the agents would not have been fired had they had the same perceived political affiliations as those involved in the January 6th protests.
Mary Dohrmann, senior counsel at Washington Litigation Group, told POLITICO that Patel was guilty of “targeting these patriotic and highly skilled FBI agents for purely partisan reasons.”
“These partisan firings are the true weaponization of government,” she continued. “The nation is less safe as a result.”
The lawsuit details how the agents were patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C., on June 4, 2020, in response to Black Lives Matter riots sparked by the death of George Floyd several weeks earlier.
The agents were allegedly confronted by a mob that included “hostile” individuals and young children.
The lawsuit claims that the agents took a knee in a supposed effort to de-escalate the situation:
Plaintiffs were performing their duties as FBI Special Agents, employing reasonable de-escalation to prevent a potentially deadly confrontation with American citizens: a Washington Massacre that could have rivaled the Boston Massacre in 1770.
…
Plaintiffs demonstrated tactical intelligence in choosing between deadly force, the only force available to them as a practical matter, given their lack of adequate crowd control equipment, and a less-than-lethal response that would save lives and keep order.
As a result of their tactical decision to kneel, the mass of people moved on without escalating to violence. Plaintiffs did not need to discharge their firearms that day. Plaintiffs saved American lives.
The agents were dismissed back in September, with Patel citing their “unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of government.”
As part of their lawsuit, the agents are demanding reinstatement, backpay, monetary damages, a declaration that the firings were unconstitutional, and expungement of related personnel files.
Both the FBI and the Department of Justice have so far refused to comment.
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