FBI agents who were photographed kneeling during a Washington DC protest in the wake of George Floyd‘s 2020 death have been reassigned.
The female agents from the now infamous photo are now in supervisory positions, which many inside the bureau view as a demotion, according to the New York Times.
At least four had been in senior roles, including in counterterrorism, counterintelligence and cybercrimes, when they learned in recent days they would be reassigned, the Washington Post reports.
Insiders told CNN the FBI offered no explanation for changing their roles to less coveted positions.
But the change comes amid a broader effort by President Donald Trump‘s new FBI Director Kash Patel to root out what the president has called ‘woke‘ and politicized elements within the bureau.
Some who worked on criminal cases against Trump and led field offices across the country have reportedly also been removed from their positions, often without any reason, according to the Washington Post.
The FBI has declined to comment on the staffing changes, citing its policy against discussing personnel matters.
FBI agents who were photographed kneeling during a Washington DC protest in the wake of George Floyd ‘s 2020 death have been reassigned
Yet some former FBI officials told CNN they worry that the recent staff changes are a sign that the bureau is bypassing its regular disciplinary process – as the agents have previously been found to have done nothing wrong.
‘This notion that the bureau would go after these people, it’s just disgusting,’ a former official told CNN.
The agents in question had been based in DC when former police officer Derek Chauvin was filmed kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as he cried out that he couldn’t breathe.
The viral incident sparked mass protests across the country that at times turned violent and left cities vandalized.
As the protests continued, Trump – who was in his first term in office – urged then-Attorney General Bill Barr to regain control of the streets.
Barr, in turn, ordered the FBI and other agencies to help with crowd control and to protect federal monuments.
But FBI agents are not generally trained to do crowd control, and deploying them to face off against the demonstrators raised concerns about a possible deadly confrontation.
The change comes amid a broader effort by President Donald Trump’s new FBI Director Kash Patel to root out what the president has called ‘ woke ‘ and politicized elements within the bureau
On the day of the kneeling photo, some of the agents recalled a recent incident in which National Guard soldiers handled a similar confrontation and decided to take a knee in an effort to de-escalate tensions.
The plan worked, and the protesters moved on.
But when the picture was published, some of the agents were ostracized and personally attacked by their peers, according to CNN.
Some senior officials at the agency even believed the women involved put themselves and their team at a tactical disadvantage.
Top officials then reviewed the incident, and ultimately found that no disciplinary action was necessary ‘because there was no violation of policy that they could point to.’
The infamous photo came amid nationwide protests in the wake of the police-involved killing of George Floyd in 2020
At times, the protests became violent and resulted in vandalism
‘What the bureau asked those agents to do is go out on foot patrol, something they were never trained to do. They were asked to be police officers,’ a former official told CNN.
‘In no way were they making a political statement.’
A 2024 report from the Department of Justice’s inspector general also found that the FBI deployments to protect the monuments ‘lacked adequate planning’ and ‘failed to provide sufficient guidance to personnel regarding their mission and legal authorities.’
It also said that ‘by sending armed agents to respond to civil unrest for which they lacked the proper training or equipment, created safety and security risks for the agents and the public.’
