FBI fires agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice
protest, AP sources say
[September 27, 2025]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has fired agents who were
photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that
followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis
police officers, three people familiar with the matter said Friday.
The bureau last spring had reassigned the agents but has since fired
them, said the people, who insisted on anonymity to discuss personnel
matters with The Associated Press.
The number of FBI employees terminated was not immediately clear, but
two people said it was roughly 20.
The photographs at issue showed a group of agents taking the knee during
one of the demonstrations following the May 2020 killing of Floyd, a
death that led to a national reckoning over policing and racial
injustice and sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw
video of the arrest. The kneeling had angered some in the FBI but was
also understood as a possible de-escalation tactic during a period of
protests.
The FBI Agents Association confirmed in a statement late Friday that
more than a dozen agents had been fired, including military veterans
with additional statutory protections, and condemned the move as
unlawful. It called on Congress to investigate and said the firings were
another indication of FBI Director Kash Patel's disregard for the legal
rights of bureau employees.
“As Director Patel has repeatedly stated, nobody is above the law,” the
agents association said. “But rather than providing these agents with
fair treatment and due process, Patel chose to again violate the law by
ignoring these agents’ constitutional and legal rights instead of
following the requisite process.”
An FBI spokesman declined to comment Friday.
The firings come amid a broader personnel purge at the bureau as Patel
works to reshape the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency.
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Demonstrators walk along Pennsylvania Avenue as they protest
the death of George Floyd, May 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Five agents and top-level executives were known to have been
summarily fired last month in a wave of ousters that current and
former officials say has contributed to declining morale.
One of those, Steve Jensen, helped oversee investigations into the
Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Another, Brian Driscoll,
served as acting FBI director in the early days of the Trump
administration and resisted Justice Department demands to supply the
names of agents who investigated Jan. 6.
A third, Chris Meyer, was incorrectly rumored on social media to
have participated in the investigation into President Donald Trump’s
retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm
Beach, Fla. A fourth, Walter Giardina, participated in high-profile
investigations like the one into Trump adviser Peter Navarro.
A lawsuit filed by Jensen, Driscoll and another fired FBI
supervisor, Spencer Evans, alleged that Patel communicated that he
understood that it was “likely illegal” to fire agents based on
cases they worked but was powerless to stop it because the White
House and the Justice Department were determined to remove all
agents who investigated Trump.
Patel denied at a congressional hearing last week taking orders from
the White House on whom to fire and said anyone who has been fired
failed to meet the FBI's standards.
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