FBI Finds Its Line on Free Speech: Kneeling vs. Coups
These agents contend their kneeling was to 'de-escalate' a volatile situation. (One might wonder if 'de-escalation' ever involves acknowledging the systemic issues fueling the protest, but we digress.) The FBI, that bastion of apolitical conduct, swiftly jettisoned them. This from the same agency that has seen its own agents implicated in investigations related to January 6th, where the
'de-escalation' tactic seemed to be, well, 'not stopping the actual insurrectionists.' It appears the FBI's definition of 'political' is rather selective: expressing solidarity with a protest against police brutality is verboten, yet allegiances to movements attempting to overturn democratic elections, according to numerous public reports and ongoing investigations, often elicit a more nuanced,
internal affairs-style response. The message is clear: when confronting the optics of state violence, silence is golden. When confronting state violence directly, one might expect a slightly different approach. How many 'patriotic' agents faced a similar swift dismissal for, say, being seen near the Capitol on Jan 6th? The bureau's priorities, one might argue, are precisely where they've always
been.