WASHINGTON — The FBI has fired agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington following the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, three people familiar with the matter said Friday.
The bureau had reassigned the agents last spring but has since terminated their employment, according to the sources who spoke anonymously to The Associated Press due to the sensitive nature of personnel matters. While the exact number of employees fired remains unclear, two sources estimated it to be roughly 20.
The photographs in question showed a group of FBI agents taking a knee in apparent solidarity during one of the demonstrations sparked by Floyd’s May 2020 killing. The death led to a national reckoning over policing and racial injustice, igniting widespread anger after millions of people viewed the arrest on video.
An FBI spokesman declined to comment on the firings Friday.
These terminations come amid a broader personnel purge at the bureau as Director Kash Patel seeks to reshape the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency. Last month, five agents and top-level executives were summarily fired in a wave of ousters that current and former officials say has contributed to declining morale within the bureau.
Among those dismissed was Steve Jensen, who helped oversee investigations into the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Another, Brian Driscoll, served as acting FBI director during the early days of the Trump administration and resisted demands from the Justice Department to provide the names of agents involved in the January 6 investigations.
Chris Meyer, also fired, was the subject of incorrect social media rumors alleging his involvement in the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Walter Giardina, another ousted agent, participated in high-profile probes including the investigation into Trump adviser Peter Navarro.
A lawsuit filed by Jensen, Driscoll, and another fired FBI supervisor, Spencer Evans, alleged that Patel acknowledged the likely illegality of firing agents based on the cases they worked but felt powerless to intervene because the White House and Justice Department were determined to remove all agents who investigated Trump.
At a congressional hearing last week, Patel denied receiving orders from the White House regarding personnel decisions and stated that anyone who has been fired simply failed to meet the FBI’s standards.
https://abc7.com/post/fbi-fires-agents-photographed-kneeling-during-2020-racial-justice-protest-following-death-george-floyd-sources-say/17889760/