The FBI just dropped a bombshell by firing multiple agents who dared to take a knee during the 2020 racial justice protests in Washington after George Floyd’s tragic death, as AP News reports.
The story, in a nutshell, is that the bureau, under Director Kash Patel, has axed around 20 employees, including agents photographed kneeling at protests, as part of a sweeping personnel purge that’s left morale in the gutter.
Let’s rewind to May 2020, when George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police ignited a firestorm of protests nationwide over policing and racial disparities.
In the midst of that chaos, several FBI agents were caught on camera kneeling during a demonstration in Washington—an act some saw as a gesture of de-escalation, while others in the bureau fumed over what they viewed as pandering to a progressive cause.
Fast forward to last spring, and these agents found themselves reassigned, a quiet prelude to the hammer dropping with their eventual termination.
Turns out, actions have consequences, even for those in federal service, as the FBI Agents Association confirmed over a dozen agents, including military veterans with legal protections, got the boot.
This isn’t just about a few photos; it’s part of a larger shake-up under Director Kash Patel, who’s been cleaning house with a vigor that’s raised eyebrows.
Last month alone, five agents and high-ranking executives were abruptly shown the door, including Steve Jensen, tied to the January 6 Capitol riot investigations, and Brian Driscoll, who once acted as FBI director during the early Trump years and pushed back on naming agents in those probes.
Others, like Chris Meyer, Walter Giardina, and Spencer Evans, also got the chop, each with their own ties to controversial, high-profile cases that seem to have put targets on their backs.
Now, here’s where it gets murky: a lawsuit from Jensen, Driscoll, and Evans claims Patel admitted that firing agents over specific cases they handled might skirt legality, but allegedly said his hands were tied by pressure from the White House and Justice Department to purge those who investigated Trump.
Patel, for his part, told Congress last week he’s not taking marching orders from anyone and insisted those let go simply didn’t meet FBI standards—a classic “nothing to see here” defense.
An FBI spokesman, predictably, clammed up when asked for comment on Friday, leaving us to wonder just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
Speaking of standards, the FBI Agents Association didn’t mince words, stating, “As Director Patel has repeatedly stated, nobody is above the law.”
But let’s unpack that—shouldn’t that apply to due process too, or are we just cherry-picking which laws matter when the political winds blow a certain way?
The association added, “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.” Well, if that’s not a polite slap across the face, I don’t know what is—it seems even the bureau’s own defenders are crying foul over a process that looks more like a witch hunt than a cleanup.
