Federal agent suspended for merely attending January 6th rally

A federal agent, Mark Ibrahim, told Reuters that he “never entered the building” when the crowd of protesters stormed the Capitol. Nonetheless, he is suspended and stripped of his security clearance.

All he did was attend and stand outside. People outside were peaceful.

Mark Ibrahim was not charged with a crime, according to a DEA spokeswoman.

According to reports, the DEA learned that Ibrahim was in the crowd outside of the Capitol after he sent photos of himself to a group chat with other federal agents.

FIRST AMENDMENT UNDER ASSAULT

One of Ibrahim’s lawyers, Gretchen Gaspari, said DEA officials told Ibrahim that they were putting him on leave and suspending his security clearance “because of his presence on Jan. 6.”

She said Ibrahim, who was off duty but carrying his service weapon at the time, was part of the crowd outside the Capitol as Trump supporters stormed the building in a bid to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.

Gaspari said Ibrahim was outside the Capitol because “it was a historic event.” She said he did not pass a set of metal barricades outside the building that were quickly overrun by the crowd.

The unarmed riot, where an officer killed an unarmed woman, was attended by hundreds of thousands, perhaps more, of peaceful protesters. It was never intended to become violent.

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