A former federal contract worker for the U.S. Coast Guard and Team USA athlete is suing the government after he says he was fired for making comments on Facebook about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Peter Souders, an engineer and project manager for government contractor Advanced Concepts Enterprises Inc. (ACES), alleges that he was fired “in retaliation for his private speech on a matter of significant national interest and attention,” violating his First Amendment rights, the lawsuit states. He had been working at the Coast Guard’s headquarters since July. Souders was also a member of the USA fencing team up until 2016.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday and names the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense, as well as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as the defendants. The deputy assistant secretary of defense for civilian personnel policy, Michael Cogar, and the chief of staff to the undersecretary for management at the DHS, Greyson McGill, were also named as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, Cogar emailed McGill about alleged “inappropriate behavior” from a Coast Guard contractor on Sept. 17. McGill then contacted the office of the chief security officer about “a social media post linked to Peter Souders,” asking it to confirm if he was a DHS contractor.
After receiving confirmation, McGill allegedly ordered DHS and Coast Guard personnel to “execute all necessary offboarding and access termination actions without delay,” the lawsuit states.
Souders and his attorneys believe the social media activity in question were comments he made on Facebook on or around Sept. 10 about Kirk’s death, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit does not share what Souders wrote on Facebook.
Facebook comments attributed to a Peter Souders circulated on X on Sept. 11. One comment states that Kirk opposed civil rights and abortion, and called him a “noted Islamophobe,” a “Putin operative” and a “Nazi.”
Another comment read: “You can’t be pro-punching Nazis and then pretend it’s a bad thing when someone actually does.”
Mark Zaid, an attorney for Souders, confirmed that the comments were made by Souders, but said it is still unclear to him which posts “were specifically seen, sent to or known by the government and then relied upon or caused the firing.”
The lawsuit argues that “Nowhere on his Facebook page does Mr. Souders identify himself as a government contractor or employee.”
Souders was terminated on Sept. 18, per the lawsuit. He was allegedly told by the chief financial officer of ACES that they “received an email from the federal government directing that Mr. Souders’s work for the Coast Guard be terminated,” and that they would have to fire him completely because he was employed as a Coast Guard contractor.
In a statement, Zaid said federal employees reserve the right to “hold and express private views on topics without fear that the government might disagree.”
“This case addresses a much broader issue than just one plaintiff but challenges unconstitutional efforts by the Trump Administration to censor individuals’ private views, which represents an ongoing threat to everything we value sacred in our country,” Zaid told NBC News.
The White House declined a request for comment, deferring to the DOD and DHS. The DOD and the Coast Guard declined to comment, citing pending litigation. The DHS and ACES did not respond to requests for comment.
Prior to his termination, Souders had received a call from someone who identified themselves as “a Navy captain,” and said that some of his social media posts had been shared with Navy leadership. The person told Souders that he would note that he was no longer employed by the Navy, per the filing. The day before he was fired, Souders’ identification badge would not allow him to exit the building where he worked, but badge issues were not uncommon, according to the lawsuit.
Attorneys for Souders said that he was a valued employee and that the defendants “wrested Mr. Souders’s career away from him because of his (entirely unrelated) political, protected speech,” in violation of the First Amendment.
Zaid said this is the first lawsuit of its kind.
“Yesterday our legal team filed the 1st known lawsuit dealing with unconstitutional federal govt involvement in an employment termination in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder,” Zaid wrote on X.
Souders is seeking to be reinstated as a Coast Guard employee and “equitable relief” and compensation for his termination and attorney’s fees.
The lawsuit follows a long list of terminations after the assassination of the conservative figure, who co-founded Turning Point USA, a nonprofit that promotes conservative politics on high school and college campuses nationwide. The list of firings includes pilots, teachers and health care employees.
Following Kirk’s death, many on the right called for the aggressive punishment of anyone seen condoning the assassination, including Hegseth, who directed staff to identify and discipline service members who mocked Kirk’s killing, two defense officials told NBC News.
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