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 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.
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