FBI reassigns agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice protest, AP sources say

WASHINGTON – The FBI has reassigned respective agents who were photographed kneeling during a radical justness protestation successful Washington that followed the 2020 decease of George Floyd astatine the hands of Minneapolis constabulary officers, 2 radical acquainted with the substance said Wednesday.

The reasons for the moves were not instantly clear, though they travel arsenic the FBI nether Director Kash Patel has been undertaking wide unit changes and Deputy Director Dan Bongino has repeatedly sought to reassure supporters of President Donald Trump who are captious of the bureau.

“The Director and I are moving connected a fig of important initiatives to guarantee that the mistakes of the past are ne'er repeated, and that galore of your unfastened questions are answered,” Bongino wrote successful 1 caller station connected X, without elaborating.

The reassignments, archetypal reported by CNN, were confirmed to The Associated Press by 2 radical acquainted with the substance who insisted connected anonymity to sermon non-public unit moves. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment.

The photographs astatine contented showed a radical of agents taking a genu during a objection pursuing the May 2020 sidesplitting of Floyd, which sparked wide choler aft millions of radical saw video of his arrest. It led to a nationalist reckoning implicit policing and radical injustice.

The kneeling angered immoderate successful the FBI but was besides understood arsenic a imaginable de-escalation maneuver during a clip of wide protests, and the agents were not punished astatine the time.

Patel pledged astatine his January confirmation proceeding that helium would not “go backwards” successful seeking retribution connected perceived adversaries. But adjacent earlier helium was sworn in, determination was interest that the Justice Department was poised to bash precisely that, including by demanding a database of the thousands of agents who worked connected investigations into the Jan. 6,2021, riot astatine the U.S. Capitol, a petition seen by immoderate arsenic a imaginable precursor to a purge astatine the bureau.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.