NATIONAL NEWS

FBI reassigns agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice protest, AP sources say

Apr 30, 2025, 3:36 PM | Updated: 5:20 pm

FILE - FBI director Kash Patel arrives on the South Lawn of the White House before President Donald...

FILE - FBI director Kash Patel arrives on the South Lawn of the White House before President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has reassigned several agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

The reasons for the moves were not immediately clear, though they come as the FBI under Director Kash Patel has been undertaking broad personnel changes and Deputy Director Dan Bongino has repeatedly sought to reassure supporters of President Donald Trump who are critical of the bureau.

“The Director and I are working on a number of significant initiatives to ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated, and that many of your open questions are answered,” Bongino wrote in one recent post on X, without elaborating.

The reassignments, first reported by CNN, were confirmed to The Associated Press by two people familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss non-public personnel moves. An FBI spokesman declined to comment.

The photographs at issue showed a group of agents taking a knee during a demonstration following the May 2020 killing of Floyd, which sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw video of his arrest. It led to a national reckoning over policing and racial injustice.

The kneeling angered some in the FBI but was also understood as a possible de-escalation tactic during a time of widespread protests, and the agents were not punished at the time.

Patel pledged at his January confirmation hearing that he would not “go backwards” in seeking retribution on perceived adversaries. But even before he was sworn in, there was concern that the Justice Department was poised to do exactly that, including by demanding a list of the thousands of agents who worked on investigations into the Jan. 6,2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, a request seen by some as a possible precursor to a purge at the bureau.

National News

FILE - Former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, left, walks out of his lawyer's office in downtown L...

Associated Press

Ex-FBI informant who made up bribery story about the Bidens will stay in prison, judge rules

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal judge has denied the U.S. government’s request to release from prison a former FBI informant who fabricated a story about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes that became central to Republicans’ impeachment effort. The decision, issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Otis Wright in Los Angeles, […]

1 hour ago

FILE - FBI director Kash Patel arrives on the South Lawn of the White House before President Donald...

Associated Press

FBI reassigns agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice protest, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has reassigned several agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The reasons for the moves were not immediately clear, though they come […]

2 hours ago

President Donald Trump gestures to supporters gathered for a Presidents Day rally as he leaves the ...

Associated Press

Trump company strikes Qatari golf resort deal in a sign it’s not holding back from foreign business

The Trump family company struck a deal Wednesday to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar in a sign it has no plans to hold back from foreign dealmaking during a second Trump administration, despite the danger of a president shaping U.S. public policy for personal financial gain. The project, which features Trump-branded beachside villas […]

2 hours ago

Laura Meissner stands in front of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) he...

Associated Press

Memorial wall to fallen USAID staffers is removed from the agency’s former building

WASHINGTON (AP) — Contractors hired by the Trump administration have removed a memorial wall to fallen staffers from the now-closed headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, with no immediate word on where it will wind up. Engraved tiles on the wall honor 99 USAID staffers killed in the line of duty around the […]

2 hours ago

FILE - The damaged remaining structure at the Champlain Towers South condo building collapses in a ...

Associated Press

Florida lawmakers approve changes to condo safety law passed after Surfside collapse

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a bill aimed at reforming a condominium safety law passed in 2022 in the wake of the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South, which killed 98 people in Surfside in June 2021. Condo owners have been facing higher costs because of the 2022 law, […]

3 hours ago

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., questions U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer as he testifies before t...

Associated Press

The Senate is voting on whether to block Trump’s global tariffs amid economic turmoil

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are forcing a vote Wednesday evening on whether to block global tariffs announced by Donald Trump earlier this month, a potentially tough vote for some Republicans who have expressed concerns about the policy but are wary of crossing the president. Trump announced the far-reaching tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading […]

3 hours ago

FBI reassigns agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice protest, AP sources say