If CNN is pouting, something just went right for the American public—and right now, they’re pouting hard.
That’s because FBI Director Kash Patel, appointed under President Trump’s second administration, has begun delivering the long-promised reckoning inside an agency that many argue lost its way under the previous administration. Among the first major moves? Disciplinary action against FBI agents who were photographed kneeling in solidarity with Black Lives Matter (BLM) protestors during the George Floyd riots in 2020.
And yes—it’s been a long time coming.
It was June 4, 2020, in Washington, D.C.—a day when FBI agents were tasked with protecting federal buildings and national monuments as BLM-led protests surged across the capital. But instead of holding the line, several agents chose to kneel before the crowd, smiling for photos that would later go viral.
At the time, media outlets—CNN foremost among them—framed the moment as one of de-escalation and human connection. Others saw it differently: as a shameful capitulation to a movement that, by its own admission, wanted to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family” and had a long record of enabling rioters and looters under the banner of “justice.”
Fast-forward to today: those same FBI agents are no longer in their previous roles. CNN reports that they’ve been “reassigned” to different parts of the agency—a bureaucratic euphemism for quiet demotion. And though the network may be painting this as a political purge, what it really represents is accountability.
BREAKING: FBI agents photographed kneeling during the BLM George Floyd protests have been reassigned. pic.twitter.com/5YfDMTC3VN
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) April 30, 2025
Even within the FBI, their actions sparked outrage. Current and former agents reportedly condemned the kneeling, with some calling it a disgrace to the badge. They saw what Americans saw: agents abandoning professionalism and neutrality for performative politics—at the very moment they were sworn to uphold the law.
Director Patel, fulfilling his pledge to “de-woke” federal law enforcement, made clear that this kind of public political display in uniform—especially during volatile moments—has no place in the FBI.
The kneeling agents, mostly female and prominently featured in the media, were quickly lionized by the corporate press. But those photos told a very different story to much of the public. It wasn’t empathy they saw—it was an FBI captured by ideological trends, willing to bend the knee to a group whose protests often turned destructive, particularly in cities like D.C., Portland, and Minneapolis.
Kneeling wasn’t de-escalation. It was submission, and it sent a message that the rule of law was subject to political theater.
This is more than just a personnel reshuffle. It’s a signal that the new leadership at the DOJ and FBI is serious about restoring nonpartisanship, professionalism, and law enforcement integrity.
And it couldn’t come soon enough.
The fact that it took nearly five years to see consequences only underscores just how deep the cultural rot had spread. But thanks to Patel’s decisive action, it’s clear the cleanup has begun.
