An agent from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was just arrested for his alleged participation in the January 6th riot at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
DEA Agent Mark Sami Ibrahim was captured in several photos at the riot, including a few where he flashed his badge and DEA-issued handgun. Pictures of him doing so are included in the court filing against him.
Authorities have revealed that Ibrahim entered the area around the Capitol building, and climbed onto the Peace Memorial at the foot of Capitol Hill. During the riot, he also participated “in a WhatsApp group chat with at least five other law enforcement officers,” according to the court filing.
That filing also states that, as Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was taken outside on a gurney after being fatally shot by a Capitol police officer, she passed “within steps of Ibrahim.”
One of Ibrahim’s friends who was there with him even videotaped Babbitt as “she was being moved past them into an ambulance,” the filing said.
According to the filing, “Ibrahim subsequently posted that video to the WhatsApp group chat.”
Ibrahim was only a probationary employee of the DEA t the time of the riot, and had already given notice of his planned resignation several weeks before the riot.
“He was not on duty for the DEA and had no role as a law enforcement officer on the Capitol grounds,” the filing said, also noting that Ibrahim was on personal leave from the DEA when he traveled to Washington, D.C.
Information provided to the FBI by a friend of Ibrahim indicates that the DEA agent went to the protest “to promote himself,” because he was considering launching a podcast and a cigar brand.
CNBC reports: “Cell-phone data shows that Ibrahim arrived at the Capitol grounds at about 1:06 p.m. on Jan. 6 — about 13 minutes after a crowd began breaking down fencing barricading the grounds — and that three minutes later he ‘posed for several photographs in which he flashed and displayed his DEA badge and firearm.'”
Footage obtained during the riot shows Ibrahim at approximately 1:45 p.m. on January 6th carrying a flag which read “LIBERTY OR DEATH,” standing around 400 feet inside the first set of fencing barricading the Capitol building.
When he was questioned by an agent with the Inspector General’s office, with his attorney present, Ibrahim acknowledged that he was at the Capitol on January 6, and admitted that he was carrying his DEA badge, credentials, and his agency-issued sidearm.
“Ibrahim denied that he displayed or exposed his DEA badge and firearm at the Capitol,” the filing said. “Specifically, Ibrahim stated ‘I had my creds. I had my firearm, and my badge on me… But never exposed… Not that I know of.’”
“During his interview, Ibrahim acknowledged hearing the tear gas canisters going off—he said he heard the booms,” the filing said.
The DEA agent also claimed that his friend “had been asked by the FBI to document the event, and that he went along with his friend to assist with that effort,” according to the court document.
The friend later told the Office of Inspector General that “Ibrahim crafted this story… in an effort to ‘cover his ass,’ ” and that the friend had never received any request from the FBI to document the riot.
“According to Ibrahim’s friend, Ibrahim went to the rally in order to promote himself,” the filing said. “Ibrahim had been thinking about his next move after leaving the DEA and wanted the protests to be his stage for launching a ‘Liberty Tavern’ political podcast and cigar brand.”
From the information reported by the mainstream media, it doesn’t appear that Ibrahim ever actually entered the Capitol building. CNBC doesn’t mention him being inside the building in their article even once. So, the question is: Is Ibrahim being arrested just for being at the Capitol, or is there something being omitted here?
