Three journalists who were fired from Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news outlet, sued the Department of Defense in federal court on Thursday, arguing their dismissals were illegal and violated their first amendment rights to free speech.[510260][488789] The three journalists were all employees of Stars and Stripes, which is described as the U.S. military's independent news source since the Civil War with a long history of editorial independence, free from news management or censorship by military command.[488789] Their court filing alleges that the US government sought to violate First Amendment rights to free speech in their dismissals.[510260]