According to an exclusive report by CNN, the FBI recently demoted (date unknown) senior agents who were photographed kneeling in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters in Washington, D.C. five years ago, after the police murder of George Floyd.
During one of the demonstrations, these agents wanted to defuse a tense moment with protesters by showing that they, too, care about the loss of an innocent man’s life.
They were not trained in riot control and had no other means to help the situation, but Donald Trump and then-Attorney General Bill Barr sent them out to give the impression of a larger law enforcement presence. That’s not the only idea they had to scare the protesters.
The Washington Post
At least four of those photographed were reassigned to positions across the bureau widely viewed as demotions, the people familiar with the situation said. They had been in senior roles, including in counterintelligence, counterterrorism and cybercrimes. The agents were not provided a reason for their transfers, said the people familiar with the matter.
A former FBI official told CNN that the unexplained reassignment of these agents may be a tactic to bypass the months-long disciplinary process agents are supposed to be afforded. The agents affected already went through a disciplinary review in 2020. No FBI policies had been broken.
“What the bureau asked those agents to do is to go out on foot patrol, something they were never trained to do. They were being asked to be police officers,” the former FBI official said. “In no way were they making a political statement.”
CNN
This is just the latest in FBI Director Kash Patel’s efforts to reshape the agency by rooting out “woke ideology,” through removing or disempowering agents and offices that don’t align with MAGA’s far-right agenda.
