FBI fires agents who knelt during 2020 racial justice protests

The FBI has fired agents who were photographed kneeling during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, the Associated Press reported late Friday. 

Two sources told the AP that around 20 agents were fired, with an additional source confirming the firings. 

The sources also revealed that the agents had been reassigned last spring for their conduct during the protests.

The photographs that led to the firings showed a group of agents kneeling during a protest in Washington that followed the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. 

Floyd’s death sparked nationwide outrage and demonstrations, which were heavily policed and monitored by local law enforcement officers and federal agencies. 

A 2020 internal FBI memo described the protests as a “national crisis.” David Bowdich, then-deputy director at the FBI, called for the bureau to investigate “violent protesters, instigators” and “inciters.” 

The firing of the group of FBI agents for their support during the protests comes amid larger restructurings at the FBI and increased scrutiny of FBI Director Kash Patel’s leadership.

Patel has come under fire for his lack of law enforcement background and conduct during high-profile cases handled by the bureau.

He fired several executives and agents within the FBI last month, including agents who investigated or were rumored to have investigated the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021. 

Among those fired included Brian Driscoll, former acting director of the FBI, who refused early requests to turn over a list of agents who worked on over 1,500 Jan. 6 cases.

Driscoll and two other former high-ranking agents filed a lawsuit against Patel earlier this month, alleging their firings were part of a “campaign of retribution” for insufficient “political loyalty.” 

The agents wrote that Patel’s actions had contributed to a low morale at the bureau and that Patel had said orders for the firings had come from his superiors, which Driscoll believed to mean leadership at the White House and Justice Department.

Critics have accused the Trump administration of firing federal workers perceived as unsupportive or opposing his agenda.

“President Trump is only interested in the best and most qualified people who are also willing to implement his America First Agenda on behalf of the American people,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously said in a statement. “It’s not for everyone, and that’s okay.”