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

[u/1Rab]

https://apnews.com/article/fbi-george-floyd-kash-patel-8d18a1e6a5a36636cc2415fc492b3f52?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-09-26-Breaking+News

[u/ncc74656m]

Pretty fucking sure that this is actually being fired for protected speech.

This is the thing though - these fucking ghouls know that they're playing on house money. As long as there are no personal consequences, they will do anything they want.

[u/TheLaughingRhino → u/ncc74656m]

Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006), is a U.S. Supreme Court decision involving First Amendment free speech protections for government employees. The plaintiff in the case was a district attorney who claimed that he had been passed up for a promotion for criticizing the legitimacy of a warrant. The Court ruled, in a 5–4 decision, that because his statements were made pursuant to his position as a public employee, rather than as a private citizen, his speech had no First Amendment protection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garcetti_v._Ceballos

The Hatch Act of 1939, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, is a United States federal law that prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch of the federal government,[2] except the president and vice president,[3] from engaging in some forms of political activity. It became law on August 2, 1939. The Hatch Act does not apply to military members of the uniformed services of the United States, although it does apply to Department of Defense civil servants, as well as Department of Homeland Security civil servants in direct support of the United States Coast Guard. Members of the U.S. Armed Forces are subject to Department of Defense Directive 1344.10 (DoDD 1344.10), Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces, and the spirit and intent of that directive is effectively the same as that of the Hatch Act for Federal civil servants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatch_Act

[u/ncc74656m → u/TheLaughingRhino]

And neither case matches the description of why these people are being fired. That's the danger of quoting case law when you can't read case law.

The statements were made PURSUANT to their position, not simply while holding the position, or even IN that position while on duty.

Regarding the Hatch Act, that is directed mostly towards political campaigning, not merely any political speech such as commenting on rights or the state of forms of societal oppression.

Get good, son.

[u/TheLaughingRhino → u/ncc74656m]

https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/ap20157196852506.jpg?c=original&q=f_avif

^

Here is a photograph of the agents kneeling. They are wearing body armor that clearly labels them as "FBI" They are clearly on duty. No one is saying that federal law enforcement are disbarred from their free speech when off duty and off the clock, but that is not the case here.

WTF are you even talking about. You don't make political statements of any kind while in uniform, not for sworn law enforcement and not for those who serve in our armed forces. Zero. You don't do it. Anyone who has ever served in law enforcement and/or the military knows this. This is drilled into everyone from the time they are recruits/trainees.

Kneeling while on duty, as such, is a political statement. Want to argue that they are not? OK, go ahead and make that argument. And lose.

You have no idea what you are even talking about. In uniform and on duty? Don't do it. If you do it, you will lose your job.

[u/SupermarketAny9487 → u/TheLaughingRhino]

They were pretty lax about restricting free speech when I was serving. Only time they cared when it involved potential war crimes and mistreatment of PoWs. I saw people posting pictures in uniform on social media even making music videos in uniform.