FBI fires agents who kneeled for Black Lives Matter

At least 15 bureau employees have been dismissed over their conduct during the 2020 protests following George Floyd’s death.

The FBI has dismissed a group of agents who were photographed kneeling during the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in Washington, according to multiple US media reports.

The firings reportedly affect between 15 and 20 employees, several of them military veterans, who were accused of breaching bureau standards, AP, Reuters, CNN and others reported on Friday.

The incident took place in June 2020, days after George Floyd died in Minneapolis, Minnesota when a police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. His death triggered mass demonstrations across the country and beyond under the BLM banner, with symbolic kneeling adopted as a sign of solidarity.

Photographs at the time showed FBI personnel kneeling on the street during a tense confrontation with demonstrators in Washington, DC. Critics both inside and outside the bureau accused the agents of demonstrating a political bias.

Supporters said the gesture was intended as a de-escalation tactic to avoid violence. Many of the Black Lives Matter protests were accompanied by rioting, looting, arson, and clashes between Antifa and right-wing counter-protesters, leaving parts of major cities in chaos. While strict Covid-19 restrictions were still enforced across the country, mass gatherings in the name of racial justice were broadly endorsed by President Donald Trump’s political rivals as “mostly peaceful” expressions of free speech.

The FBI Agents Association condemned the dismissals as “unlawful,” saying they violated civil service protections and due process. “Leaders uphold the law – they don’t repeatedly break it,” the group said in a statement, urging Congress to investigate the decision by FBI Director Kash Patel.

The bureau has declined to comment on personnel matters. Media reports said the dismissals were part of a broader purge of senior officials and agents since Patel, a Trump ally, assumed leadership earlier this year.

Several of the ousted employees, including those who had worked on politically sensitive cases such as the January 6 Capitol riot, have since filed lawsuits alleging they were targeted for removal. Patel has denied taking direction from the White House, insisting that any agent who failed to meet FBI standards would not remain employed by the bureau.