September 28, 2025 06:31 AM IST
First published on: Sep 28, 2025 at 06:31 AM IST
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Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officers take a knee with demonstrators, as they march on Pennsylvania Ave, in Washington, during a protest over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. (AP Photo/ File)
The FBI has fired a group of agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington following the death of George Floyd in 2020 at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, Associated Press reported quoting people familiar with the matter.
FBI had reportedly reassigned the agents who were involved in the kneeling last spring but now the reports are stating that the bureau has fired them. The number of agents sacked by the FBI isn’t confirmed but people aware of it said it could be between 15 and 20. The termination letter alleged “lack of judgements” in their actions, CBS News reported.
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The pictures showed FBI agents taking a knee alongside others during a demonstration following the killing of Floyd in May 2020, a death that led to a national reckoning over policing and racial injustice and it triggered anger and protests across the global community after millions saw video of the arrest.
The FBI is yet to comment over the matter, however, the FBI Agents Association has criticised the dismissals and said that the agents’ rights have been violated. The association confirmed that over a dozen FBI agents have been sacked by the bureau, including military veterans with additional statutory protections as it called the move illegal.
The association called on the Congress to investigate the firings and accused FBI Director Kash Patel of disregard for bureau employees’ legal rights.
“As Director Patel has repeatedly stated, nobody is above the law. 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,” the association said in a statement.
When the FBI agents and several police officers were pictured kneeling during the demonstrations, multiple right-wing commentators had criticised the law enforcement agencies over the act.
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Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officers take a knee with demonstrators, as they march on Pennsylvania Ave, in Washington, during a protest over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. (AP Photo/ File) 
