FBI Fires Agents Who Kneeled During George Floyd Protest
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NEED TO KNOW
- FBI agents who were photographed kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest have been fired, per inside sources
- The terminated employees had been reassigned from their normal duties this spring before being fired on Sept. 26
- The FBI Agents Association, an advocacy group, said the dismissals “violate the due process rights” of the agents
The FBI has fired agents who were seen kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest following the death of George Floyd.
Inside sources spoke to the Associated Press and said that approximately 20 agents were terminated on Friday, Sept. 26, several of whom were photographed kneeling during a protest in Washington, D.C.
The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) condemned the firings in a statement to PEOPLE, stating that the “unlawful” dismissals “violate the due process rights” of the agents — though they did not specifically confirm whether the recent firings were related to the racial justice protests of 2020.
“Agents have earned the basic rights of dignity and due process through years of service and sacrifice, and they deserve nothing less,” added the FBIAA, a nonprofit established to “advance and safeguard the careers, economic interests, conditions of employment and welfare” of FBI agents.
Kent Nishimura/Getty
The association also criticized FBI director Kash Patel’s leadership at the agency.
“Patel’s dangerous new pattern of actions are weakening the Bureau because they eliminate valuable expertise and damage trust between leadership and the workforce, and make it harder to recruit and retain skilled agents — ultimately putting our nation at greater risk,” the FBIAA said.
FBI agents were at the 2020 Washington, D.C., protest at the order of then-Attorney General Bill Barr, who was urged to deploy crowd control measures by President Donald Trump, per CNN. The agents in question allegedly opted to take a knee as a way to help deescalate tensions between law enforcement and demonstrators, according to the outlet.
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Photos of the agents kneeling soon circulated online, spurring anger among some of the agents’ colleagues and a number of conservative politicians. The incident was later reviewed by officials under then-FBI Director Christopher Wray, who determined that the gesture did not violate any FBI policy.
PEOPLE reached out to the FBI and the FBIAA for comment on Saturday, Sept. 27, but did not receive immediate responses.
In a statement to NPR, the FBI declined to comment on personnel matters.
Credit to Nypost AND Peoples
