Overview
- The Dec. 8 federal complaint, filed in Washington, names FBI Director Kash Patel, the FBI, the Justice Department, Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Executive Office of the President, and seeks reinstatement, back pay, damages and expungement.
- The plaintiffs say they knelt on June 4, 2020 near the National Archives as a tactical move to defuse a volatile crowd without riot gear, and that the crowd dispersed without violence.
- Termination letters in September cited “unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality … leading to the political weaponization of government,” even as an internal process was still pending, according to the suit.
- The suit says earlier reviews by senior FBI leadership and the Justice Department inspector general found no political motive or misconduct in the kneeling incident.
- The agents, filing anonymously as Jane and John Does with nine women among the twelve, frame the case as part of broader personnel actions under Patel; the FBI declined to comment on pending litigation.