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Over a dozen FBI agents were fired by the agency, five years after some of them were seen kneeling during protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The firings fit the pattern of a larger trend by which the Trump administration slashes government employees and pushes its ideological agenda.
Agents who kneeled during 2020 protests among those fired
Sources within the FBI have indicated that more than a dozen agents were fired by the agency on Friday. Some of the fired agents were seen kneeling in photographs taken during the protests that followed the killing of George Floyd in 2020. At the time, President Donald Trump and then-Attorney General Bill Barr deployed agents to protect federal buildings in Washington, D.C., against vandalism. The deployment proved controversial, with several agents objecting that their mission was unclear. Faced with protesters, several FBI agents responded by kneeling, which they described as a successful attempt to de-escalate tensions. Images of the kneeling agents angered many conservatives. Although an investigation under then-FBI Director Christopher Wray cleared the agents of any conduct worthy of reprimand, the current Trump administration has revived action against the agents, demoting some earlier this year and now firing several of them.
Trump administration allegedly targeting FBI agents, pushing political agenda
The FBI Agents Association condemned the firings as “unlawful” and violations of “the due process rights of those who risk their lives to protect our country.” The FBIAA singled out Trump’s current FBI director Kash Patel for several politicized firings within the agency. “Patel’s dangerous new pattern of actions are weakening the Bureau because they eliminate valuable expertise and damage trust between leadership and the workforce, and make it harder to recruit and retain skilled agents — ultimately putting our nation at greater risk,” the FBIAA said in a statement, per NBC News. Former FBI acting Director Brian Driscoll attempted to protect agents from possible retaliation after the Trump administration pushed to scrutinize or fire agents involved in the Jan. 6 investigations. Driscoll was fired by Trump and is one of several former high-ranking FBI officials suing the administration for unlawful termination.
Trump goes after former FBI leaders, pushes conspiracy theories about the agency
FBI Director Patel, who testified before Congress in a sometimes fiery exchange with lawmakers, has denied that recent FBI firings are being pushed by Trump or done for political reasons. Yet, Trump himself seems determined to continue to retaliate against former and current members of the bureau. Former FBI Director James Comey, who conducted the investigation into the Trump campaign’s possible ties with Russia before being fired by Trump, was recently indicted for allegedly lying to Congress. Comey has denied the charges, which came after extensive pressure on the Justice Department from Trump. The president recently accused Wray of wrongdoing and suggested that he was being investigated by the Justice Department; Trump has also fed into conspiracy theories that undercover FBI agents instigated the Jan. 6 insurrection.
These moves by Trump and members of his administration suggest a political purge of the FBI and an effort by the administration to settle scores within the agency. Friday’s firings suggest that several agents have been fired after years of conservative scrutiny over their engagement with protesters in 2020.
