FBI fires agents seen kneeling in iconic photo during George Floyd protests five years ago [View all]

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Sep 26, 2025, 8:29 PM ET



Federal Bureau of Investigation (officers take a knee with demonstrators, as they march on Pennsylvania Ave. on Thursday, June 4, 2020, in Washington, during a protest over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)


The Federal Bureau of Investigation has fired as many as 20 FBI agents, including a group associated with a 2020 incident in which agents were photographed kneeling with demonstrators at the height of protests over the police killing of George Floyd, two people briefed on the matter said.

The latest round of dismissals at the bureau came at the end of a review by the FBI’s inspection division and recommendations evaluated by the bureau’s general counsel’s office, one person briefed on the matter said. As many as 20 people were terminated in the latest round of ousters, including about 15 associated with the kneeling incident, according to the sources.

The FBI declined to comment on the firings.

The kneeling incident in Washington, DC, gained notoriety inside the FBI and drew criticism particularly in conservative media and among some retired agents. It occurred after a group of agents assigned to protect federal monuments and buildings were confronted by a group of protesters. FBI agents generally aren’t trained to do crowd control and deploying them to face off with demonstrators raised fears of a possible deadly confrontation, current and former bureau officials said.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/26/politics/fbi-agents-fired-blm-george-floyd-protests