Leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation fired more than a dozen agents who kneeled amid Black Lives Matter protests in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2020. Many of the agents had already been demoted or put on administrative leave.
One source told CBS News that the termination letter to the agents cited their alleged “lack of judgement” in their actions. The agents had been photographed kneeling after encountering protestors during the demonstrations that followed George Floyd’s death in May 2020. The kneeling had angered some in the FBI, but was also understood as a possible de-escalation tactic, the Associated Press reported.
The number of FBI employees terminated was not immediately clear, but two people told the Associated Press it was roughly 20.
The FBI Agents Association, which represents a majority of FBI agents, said that it “strongly condemns” the firings and urged Congress to investigate. The association accused FBI Director Kash Patel of violating the law and ignoring the agents’ “constitutional and legal rights instead of following the requisite process.”
“Leaders uphold the law – they don’t repeatedly break it,” the association said. “They respect due process, rather than hide from it. 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.”
An FBI spokesperson did not comment on the firings.
The firings come amid a broader personnel purge at the bureau as Patel works to reshape the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency.
Five agents and top-level executives were known to have been summarily fired last month in a wave of ousters that current and former officials say has contributed to declining morale.
One of those, Steve Jensen, helped oversee investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Another, Brian Driscoll, served as acting FBI director in the early days of the Trump administration and resisted Justice Department demands to supply the names of agents who investigated Jan. 6.
A third, Chris Meyer, was incorrectly rumored on social media to have participated in the investigation into President Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. A fourth, Walter Giardina, participated in high-profile investigations like the one into Trump adviser Peter Navarro.
A lawsuit filed by Jensen, Driscoll and another fired FBI supervisor, Spencer Evans, alleged that Patel communicated that he understood that it was “likely illegal” to fire agents based on cases they worked but was powerless to stop it because the White House and the Justice Department were determined to remove all agents who investigated Trump.
Patel denied at a congressional hearing last week taking orders from the White House on whom to fire and said anyone who has been fired failed to meet the FBI’s standards.
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Jacob Rosen and
contributed to this report.
