Former U.S. Coast Guard contractor Peter Souders is allowed to proceed with his First Amendment lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming he was fired over posts related to the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Sounders, an engineer and project manager for government contractor Advanced Concepts Enterprises Inc. (ACES) who began working at the Coast Guard in July 2025, alleges that he was fired in September 2025 “in retaliation for his private speech on a matter of significant national interest and attention,” citing a violation of his First Amendment rights.
In November 2025, he filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, specifically naming the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense—including now former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—as the defendants. Two other officials, Michael Cogar of the Defense Department and Greyson McGill at DHS, were also named.
On Friday, Donald Trump-appointed Judge Timothy Kelly wrote in a new legal filing that he disagreed with defendants that Souders’s First Amendment claim so belongs in the Court of Federal Claims, rather than the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia where it was filed.
Trump-Appointed Judge Rules in Ex-Contractor’s Favor
Kirk was shot in the neck on Sept. 10, 2025, and later died from his wounds.
Images and video of the murder scene involving the popular but controversial figure flooded social media. Kirk was speaking to about 3,000 attendees at Utah Valley University during a Turning Point USA event when he was murdered.
The assassination spawned strong rhetoric across the nation, mostly based on political views and constitutional questions regarding free speech, the First Amendment and the Second Amendment.
Earlier this month, accused murderer Tyler Robinson, 23, of Utah, pleaded not guilty to killing Kirk while a judge ruled that the death penalty can be sought at trial. Robinson is accused of aggravated murder and six other charges in relation to the incident.
“The contract at issue is between the Coast Guard and Souders’ employer—ACES—not between the Coast Guard and Souders himself,” Kelly wrote in the new filing.
Kelly also wrote that Souders alleges a violation of his right to engage in protected speech under the First Amendment, not rights conferred by an employment contract. Courts “have routinely reached this conclusion in circumstances like this one,” the judge said, even when the plaintiff is a prime contractor in privity with the government.
The judge also dismissed two claims on Sounders’ behalf: one for a declaratory judgment, and a a mandamus claim. Neither prevents the First Amendment argument from moving forward, however.
What Souders Allegedly Said, and What He Claims
Kirk was shot and killed roughly two months after Souders joined ACES.
The plaintiff alleges within his suit that he was among those who published “social media posts relating to Charlie Kirk on Facebook” after the shooting.
“Those posts—whatever they said—allegedly did not sit well with officials at the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security,” the lawsuit claims.
Souders alleged that the following week, Cogar, deputy assistant secretary of defense for civilian personnel policy, contacted McGill, chief of staff for DHS’s under secretary for management, about “inappropriate behavior” by a “[Coast Guard] contractor.”
McGill allegedly responded that he would “take care of the…matter.” He allegedly emailed DHS staff about “a social media post linked to…Souders” and ordered them to “offboard” Souders “without delay.”
Souders claims he received an email days later from his then-employer, ACES, directing that Souders’ “work for the Coast Guard be terminated.” ACES purportedly told Souders that its hands were tied since the company “had employed [him] to work as a Coast Guard contractor.” He was terminated Sept. 18.
He and his attorneys have pointed to social media posts made on Facebook on or around Sept. 10 about Kirk’s death, according to the lawsuit—which does not explicitly reference or quote said remarks.
Facebook comments attributed to a Peter Souders circulated on X on Sept. 11, according to NBC News. One comment said that Kirk opposed civil rights and abortion, referring to him as 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.”
