So let me get this straight.
Four years ago, a handful of FBI agents, outnumbered in the middle of a protest that was one bad move away from turning into a riot, took a knee. The crowd asked them to. It was a de-escalation tactic. A way to say "we're human, you're human, let's not burn this city down."
And for that, in the year of our lord 2024, more than twenty of them just got fired.
This is a bad joke. No, 'bad' doesn't cover it—this is a five-alarm dumpster fire of political retribution disguised as HR policy. We're talking about senior officials. Military veterans, people with statutory protections that are supposed to mean something. Gone. Canned. Kicked to the curb because they chose peace over a cracked skull four years ago.
Let's rewind the tape. It's June 4, 2020. The country is a powder keg after George Floyd's murder. DC is on edge. Protesters are face-to-face with a line of feds. Instead of riot shields and tear gas, a few agents kneel. The moment is tense, but it breaks. The temperature drops a few degrees.
And what did the FBI do back then? They looked into it. An internal review concluded the agents didn't violate any specific policy. Case closed, right? No harm, no foul, no disciplinary action needed. Everyone goes back to work.
Wrong. So, so wrong.
"Meeting Standards" or Settling Scores?
The New Sheriff and His Very Long Memory
Enter FBI Director Kash Patel.
This is the guy who vowed to root out "political bias" from the agency. And apparently, his definition of "political bias" is anything that doesn't perfectly align with the talking points of his political masters. Since he took over, there’s been a purge. Last month it was Steve Jensen, the guy who oversaw the January 6th riot investigations. It was Brian Driscoll, a former acting director. Now it's the kneelers.
You see the pattern here? It ain't exactly subtle.
Jensen, Driscoll, and another fired supervisor are already suing, claiming their firings were illegal and politically motivated payback for investigating the former president. Their lawsuit even alleges that Director Patel knew the firings were "likely illegal" but his hands were tied by the White House and the DOJ.
Offcourse, when asked about this at a congressional hearing, Patel denied taking orders from anyone. His official line is that anyone who has been fired "failed to meet the FBI’s standards."
Let's deconstruct that little piece of corporate PR-speak, shall we?
"Failed to meet the FBI's standards."
What standard is that, exactly? The standard of not using a proven de-escalation technique? The standard of ignoring the human beings in front of you? Or is the new, unwritten standard that you must never, ever do anything that could be clipped and used in a fundraising email by the other team? Is the standard now just "don't get photographed doing anything that looks vaguely progressive"?
The FBI Agents Association, which I'm guessing knows a thing or two about FBI standards, is calling the firings "unlawful." They’re screaming from the rooftops that Patel is shredding the constitutional and legal rights of these agents. They said, and I quote, the agents were not provided with "fair treatment and due process."
You think?
This whole thing reminds me of when my ISP throttles my internet and calls it "network management." It's the same playbook. Use sterile, bureaucratic language to describe a vindictive, boneheaded decision. It’s an insult to our intelligence.
This Isn't Justice, It's a Hostile Takeover
So, Who Does This Help?
The firings make it harder to recruit and retain agents. Morale is reportedly in the toilet. The agency's own association is calling on Congress to investigate its leadership. So who exactly benefits from gutting the Bureau of experienced personnel over a four-year-old non-incident?
When the photos first surfaced in 2020, the usual suspects on social media lost their minds. It was proof of a "liberal bias" in the FBI, a deep-state conspiracy to... what, exactly? Keep the peace? Prevent property damage?
The message being sent by Patel is crystal clear: Your job is not to serve the public or keep the peace. Your job is to serve a political narrative. Don't think for yourself. Don't adapt to the situation on the ground. Just follow the script, and for God's sake, don't do anything that might make someone on cable news angry.
They fire veterans for taking a knee to calm a crowd, but the guys who were in charge of investigating an actual insurrection get the boot, too. It’s almost like the specific "crime" doesn't matter, it's just about who you are and who you...
Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one here. Maybe this is just good management. Trimming the fat. Enforcing high standards. And maybe if I click my heels together three times, a unicorn will deliver my groceries.
But what do I know? I'm just a guy watching an institution rot from the head down. An institution that is supposed to be above this kind of petty, political score-settling. At least, that's what they used to tell us.
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Welcome to the New Loyalty Program
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Let's be real. This isn't about standards. It never was. This is about fear. It's about making every single agent in that building look over their shoulder before they make a decision. It's about turning the FBI into a political weapon, where the only qualification that matters is unquestioning loyalty to the guy in charge. They're not cleaning house; they're installing a new operating system, and these firings are just the forced uninstall of the old software. It's a warning shot to everyone else: fall in line, or you're next.
Reference article source：
- FBI fires agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice protest, AP sources say
- FBI fires agents seen kneeling in photo during George Floyd protests, reports
- FBI fires agents photographed kneeling during George Floyd protest in 2020
Tags: fbi agents george floyd