Overview
- The federal lawsuit, filed in Washington, names FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI and the Justice Department as defendants.
- The plaintiffs, nine women and three men filing anonymously, seek reinstatement, back pay, damages, expungement of records and a declaration that the firings were unconstitutional.
- The complaint says agents knelt near the National Archives on June 4, 2020 as a tactical de-escalation that dispersed a hostile crowd without violence.
- According to the suit, senior FBI leadership and the Justice Department inspector general previously concluded the kneeling was not political and warranted no discipline.
- The agents say they were demoted, then terminated in September 2025 while an internal probe was still pending, with letters citing “unprofessional conduct” and “lack of impartiality,” and they allege the decision was directed by the Trump administration; the FBI declined to comment.