In a sweeping move aligned with President Donald Trump’s push to depoliticize federal law enforcement, the FBI has reassigned numerous agents who were photographed kneeling during a 2020 protest following the death of George Floyd.
The reassignments are part of the administration’s broader effort to remove what Trump and his allies call “woke” or politically biased elements from within the federal intelligence and law enforcement community. The agents, who were assigned to protect federal monuments and buildings during nationwide unrest, had taken a knee in Washington, D.C., in a gesture seen by some as sympathetic to protesters and by others as a breach of impartiality.
A former FBI official told CNN that the move sidestepped the bureau’s standard disciplinary review process, which can take months or longer. “This notion that the bureau would go after these people, it’s just disgusting,” the official said.
However, under the new administration, FBI Director Kash Patel has emphasized restoring public trust in the bureau by rooting out perceived political favoritism. Patel, appointed by President Trump earlier this year, has vowed to end what he called a “two-tier system of justice.”
“There will be accountability within the FBI and outside of the FBI, and we will do it through rigorous Constitutional oversight,” Patel said in February. “There will be one singular system of justice for all Americans.”
While the kneeling gesture was not deemed a policy violation at the time — with internal reviews concluding no disciplinary action was necessary — its renewed relevance under Trump’s second term has reignited internal tensions. The incident occurred in a volatile moment, when law enforcement agencies were stretched thin and agents, many untrained in crowd control, were deployed into politically charged environments.
According to CNN, more than 1,500 agents are now under review for their roles in politically sensitive cases from the past five years, including investigations into Trump, his associates, and the January 6 Capitol protest. Agents involved in the Mar-a-Lago search warrant and other high-profile probes have reportedly been bracing for reassignments or other internal scrutiny.
As President Trump declared at a recent rally, “The corrupt FBI probably got me elected,” framing his fight with the agency as both personal and symbolic of a broader war against the deep state.
The fate of the reassigned agents remains unclear, but the message from the administration is not: political neutrality in federal law enforcement will now be judged according to a different standard — one set from the top down.
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Need to be reassigned to the house. There is no room for social experiments in law enforcement or the military or for pretty much the rest of the government for that matter.
ii agree that the move sidestepped the bureau’s standard disciplinary review process, which can take months or longer IS disgusting,.” t
ANY, and ALL FBI Agents who took part in the George Floyd movement for a a LIFE LONG CRIMINAL, DRUGGIE ALCHOLIC who OFFED himself with a Fentanyl OD, against a police officer and against THE PEOPLE during the BOGUS Jan 6 Capitol “Insurrection,” should be moved to areas where they cannot do any harm. In my book they should have been TERMINATED
Reassign? NOT. Fire their asses and all the rest of the DEI pukes. Then, abolish the fbi. Their name is mud.