ANKARA

Twelve former FBI agents dismissed for kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest in Washington have filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement, backpay, and the expungement of their termination records, according to media reports.

The agents say they knelt on June 4, 2020, in a bid to de-escalate tension during nationwide unrest following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, CBS News reported on Monday.

According to the lawsuit, the officers were “outnumbered by hostile crowds” while lacking riot gear and proper crowd control training.

“The Special Agents selected the option that prevented casualties while maintaining their law enforcement mission,” the lawsuit said.

The suit, filed by the Washington Litigation Group, claims the kneeling was tactical, not political.

“Each plaintiff kneeled for apolitical tactical reasons to defuse a volatile situation, not as an expressive political act.”

They allege they were terminated in September 2025 by FBI Director Kash Patel due to “unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality,” despite internal reviews in 2020 concluding there was no political motive.

The plaintiffs assert they were targeted because they were “perceived to be sympathetic to President Trump’s political opponents.”

The lawsuit describes the decision to kneel as life-saving. “They saved American lives that day” and prevented a situation “that could have rivaled the Boston Massacre in 1770.”

The FBI declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also references a broader personnel shift under Patel, including dismissals of staff who worked on investigations involving US President Donald Trump or his allies.

The agents are seeking reinstatement, a court ruling that the firings were unconstitutional, monetary damages, and a clearing of their records.