The FBI fires The agents seen on their knees in an emblematic photo during the demonstrations of George Floyd five years ago
The Federal Bureau of Investigation drew up to 20 FBI agents, including a group associated with an incident in 2020 during which agents were photographed on their knees with demonstrators at the height of demonstrations against the murder of the police of George Floyd, said two people informed of the case.
The last series of layoffs at the office occurred at the end of an examination by the FBI inspection division and the recommendations evaluated by the Office of the General Council of the Bureau of the Bureau, said an informed person. According to sources, up to 20 people have been dismissed in the last series of oussours, including fifteen associated with the kneeling incident.
The FBI refused to comment on layoffs.
The association of FBI agents in a declaration in CNN criticized the management of the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, and said that the dismissals “violated the rights of the regular procedure” of agents.
“The new dangerous model of the patels weakens the office because they eliminate precious expertise and damage confidence between leadership and labor, and make the recruitment and conservation of qualified agents more difficult – ultimately putting our nation more at risk,” said the organization.
The kneeling incident in Washington, DC, acquired notoriety within the FBI and aroused criticism in particular in the conservative media and among some retired agents. He performed in the summer of 2020 – at the height of demonstrations against racism and heavy police tactics after the death of Floyd – after a group of agents was confronted with a group of demonstrators.
President Donald Trump had urged the general of the time, General Bill Barr, to regain control of the streets. Barr ordered the FBI and other agencies to deploy agents to help control crowds and protect federal buildings.
However, FBI agents are generally not trained to control the crowds and deploy them to compete with demonstrators have raised fears of a possible fatal confrontation, the officials of the current and old office said. The management of the FBI at the time pushed Barr, but finally gave in.
Some agents that day, recalling how the soldiers of the National Guard had managed a similar confrontation, decided to try on his knees as a means of defusing tensions. It worked and the demonstrators left.
Later, after photos emerged, a furious reaction broke out. The senior officials of the former director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, examined the incident and determined that, given the context, there were no violation of the policy, said current and former officials.
But earlier this year, FBI officials decided to reassess the incident and the agents involved received reallocations, considered as demotions by many inside the agency. FBI officials did not offer any explanation to change the roles in positions less coveted for agents, according to sources.
Friday layoffs are part of a broader effort of the new FBI leaders to make promises to eliminate what Trump called “alarm clock” and politicized elements inside the agency.
The Ministry of Justice said earlier this year that it was examining the conduct of more than 1,500 agents associated with cases that have been disadvantaged in the new Trump era, including surveys on the president and its allies.
Two senior FBI officials, including one who initially resisted the efforts of the Trump administration to bring together the names of the agents who worked on cases related to the attack on the American Capitol on January 6, 2021, were dismissed last month, CNN previously reported.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Kanitia Iyer’s contribution to this report.
