According to his lawyer, Gretchen Gaspari, Federal Agent Mark Ibrahim was suspended today by the The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration after sending pictures to a group chat of fellow agents from his cellphone.
The Daily Beast
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration placed an agent on leave and suspended his security clearance for joining the crowd in front of the Capitol building on Jan. 6. The agent, Mark Ibrahim, did not take part in the attempted insurrection that left five dead, and only stood in the crowd listening to former President Donald Trump’s speech hawking the lie that the election was stolen. The Los Angeles-based agent was off duty but was still carrying his service weapon, according to his lawyer Gretchen Gaspari. He has not been charged with a crime. Gaspari told Reuters, “We’re walking a line between the First Amendment and insurrectionist behavior.”
The Hill
Gretchen Gaspari, a lawyer for Ibrahim, told the [Reuters} news outlet that DEA officials told her client that he was being placed on leave and were suspending his security clearance “because of his presence on Jan. 6.”
Gaspari said that Ibrahim was part of the crowd outside the Capitol while the crowd went inside. He was off duty, but carried his service weapon.
DEA officials learned that Ibrahim was outside the Capitol after he sent photographs to a group chat of fellow agents, Reuters reported. The agency took his weapons and credentials while it decided how to proceed.
Agent Ibrahim has not been charged with committing any crimes...
Reuters
A DEA spokeswoman declined to comment on Ibrahim’s suspension. He has not been charged with a crime. Officials declined to say whether any other agents were present.
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Ibrahim worked in a DEA office in the Los Angeles suburbs. Gaspari said he had turned in his resignation before Jan. 6, but withdrew it before it took effect.
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John Lavinsky, a spokesman for the Justice Department’s Inspector General, said he could not “confirm or deny the existence of investigations” but that the office was examining the Jan. 6 siege and had asked authorities to notify it about any allegations of misconduct by federal agents.