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A former Coast Guard contractor is suing the federal government, alleging senior Homeland Security and military officials orchestrated his firing after seeing Facebook posts he made after the shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
The federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by Peter Souders, who was an engineer and project manager for Advanced Concepts Enterprises, Inc. is one of the first legal tests of the Trump administration’s crackdown on speech in the wake of Kirk’s assassination.
“Just over one month ago, individuals in the highest circles of the federal government decided to target me when I and countless others criticized someone I viewed as a bigoted person,” Souders said in a statement shared with Business Insider. “It was and is my right to do so. The First Amendment was designed to protect individuals from the overreach of a would-be totalitarian government.”
Souders, based at the Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C., was employed to help modernize its communications systems.
His lawsuit alleges that on September 17, Michael Cogar, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary for civilian personnel policy, emailed Greyson McGill, chief of staff to the DHS undersecretary for management, saying the Pentagon had been “notified of inappropriate behavior” by a Coast Guard contractor.
Cogar did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment. Contact information for McGill could not be located.
Later that day, the lawsuit alleges, McGill emailed Cogar to “confirm that today is Mr. Souders’ last day here at DHS,” adding that the Coast Guard would start the offboarding and termination process immediately.
Souders learned of his firing the next day after finding that his access badge stopped working. A company representative informed him that ACES had received an email from the government directing Souders’ removal, the lawsuit said, alleging the email stated Souders was “unable to work for DHS.”
Advanced Concepts Enterprises, Inc. did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense also did not respond to requests for comment.
The complaint contends that Souders’s Facebook posts, which are not detailed in the lawsuit, were protected political speech and that he did not identify himself as a government contractor online. Souders published the Facebook posts around September 10, the day Kirk was killed.
A day after Kirk’s death, a pseudonymous X user published online comments attributed to Souders that called Kirk a “Nazi.” Another prominent user then tagged official X accounts for the US Navy, the Defense Department, and the defense secretary. Business Insider could not confirm the authenticity of the X user’s claim.
Sounders’ attorney declined to specify whether this particular post triggered his removal.
Military service members acting in official capacities have limitations on freedom of speech, chiefly that they cannot express overt support for political views or for those running for political office; government contractors are not held to such strict rules.
Social media posts condemning and supporting Kirk’s philosophies exploded on social media following his shooting death at a Utah college. In the aftermath, some government agencies targeted vocal critics. The Pentagon moved swiftly to discipline troops who criticized Kirk from official government accounts or personal accounts, igniting outcries of First Amendment infringement.
Major corporations, likewise, took action against some employees over posts critical of Kirk after his death.
Souders is suing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, McGill, and Cogar in their official capacities, alleging the government violated his constitutional rights by coercing his private employer to fire him.
“Mr. Souders was fired from his private employer not because his work performance was poor, but because the defendants demanded that he be fired for his private, political speech,” the complaint states. Souders is seeking reinstatement.
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