The FBI has terminated a group of agents who were photographed kneeling in solidarity during a racial justice protest in Washington, D.C., following the 2020 death of George Floyd, according to multiple people familiar with the matter who spoke with the Associated Press.
The firings, which reportedly involve roughly 20 employees, are an escalation from earlier disciplinary steps. The bureau had initially reassigned the agents last spring but has now dismissed them entirely. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment Friday, citing personnel confidentiality.
The images in question captured agents kneeling during demonstrations that swept the nation after millions of Americans watched the viral video of Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police. For many, kneeling became a powerful gesture of solidarity with protesters demanding racial justice and police reform.
For the FBI, however, the act has now become a flashpoint inside the agency.
The dismissals come amid a broader reshuffling under FBI Director Kash Patel, who has been overseeing what insiders describe as a “personnel purge.”
In recent months, several high-ranking officials have been ousted, including Steve Jensen, who helped oversee the investigation into the January 6 Capitol riot, and Brian Driscoll, a former acting FBI director during the Trump administration.
Other senior officials, including Chris Meyer and Walter Giardina, were also abruptly removed.
Some of those dismissed have filed lawsuits, alleging that the firings were politically motivated and aimed at removing agents connected to sensitive investigations, including those involving President Donald Trump.
In legal filings, the agents claimed Patel acknowledged it might be “likely illegal” to terminate employees based on their work but argued he was powerless to stop pressure from the White House and Justice Department.
Patel, testifying before Congress last week, denied those allegations. He maintained that no one was fired for political reasons and insisted that “anyone who has been fired failed to meet the FBI’s standards.”
Still, critics point to the kneeling incident as emblematic of the agency’s struggle to navigate a deeply polarized political climate.
For some, the act of kneeling was a human gesture during a painful national reckoning. For others, especially within the bureau’s leadership, it crossed a line into political expression that they viewed as incompatible with the FBI’s mandate of neutrality.
The firings have fueled debate about what solidarity looks like in federal institutions and at what cost employees can express it.
With morale inside the bureau already shaken by high-profile departures, the latest move is expected to spark further scrutiny of how politics, public perception, and internal culture collide at one of the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agencies.
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