The FBI has fired as many as 20 agents, including a group photographed kneeling during the 2020 racial justice protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd, according to a new report.

The dismissals follow an internal review by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s inspection division and come amid a broader personnel purge under director Kash Patel, who has promised to address what President Trump has described as “woke” and politicized elements within the agency.

The number of fired employees was not immediately clear, but sources indicated it was approximately 20 people, with about 15 connected to the kneeling incident, the Associated Press reported.

The kneeling incident occurred at Washington, D.C., at the height of widespread protests over police brutality in the summer of 2020. A group of FBI agents, deployed to assist with crowd control, were confronted by demonstrators. Recalling how National Guard soldiers had previously used kneeling to de-escalate tensions, some agents knelt, and the confrontation was peacefully resolved.

While photos of the kneeling agents drew praise from some as a de-escalation tactic, they also sparked outrage, particularly in conservative media and among some retired agents.

An initial review under former FBI Director Christopher Wray concluded there was no policy violation given the context. However, officials under the new leadership decided earlier this year to reassess the incident, leading to reassignments that were widely seen as demotions before the eventual firings.

The FBI Agents Association fiercely condemned the dismissals, accusing Mr. Patel of violating the agents’ rights. “Patel’s dangerous new pattern of actions are weakening the Bureau because they eliminate valuable expertise and damage trust between leadership and the workforce, and make it harder to recruit and retain skilled agents — ultimately putting our nation at greater risk,” the association said in a statement.

The group added that rather than providing “fair treatment and due process, Patel chose to again violate the law by ignoring these agents’ constitutional and legal rights instead of following the requisite process.”

The firings are part of a larger trend within the bureau. Last month, it dismissed several senior FBI officials including Steve Jensen, who helped oversee investigations into the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, and Brian Driscoll, who resisted demands to provide the names of agents involved in those investigations.

A lawsuit filed by Mr. Jensen, Mr. Driscoll, and another fired supervisor alleged that Mr. Patel understood it was “likely illegal” to fire agents based on the cases they worked but felt powerless to do otherwise due to pressure from the White House and the Justice Department.

At a congressional hearing last week, Mr. Patel denied taking firing orders from the White House, saying that anyone terminated had failed to meet the FBI’s standards.