Police are cleaning up the U.S. Capitol with tear gas while supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather in Washington on January 6, 2021.
Stephanie Keith | Reuters
A US Drug Enforcement Administration agent was arrested for allegedly participating in the January 6 riots in the US Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
The agent, Mark Sami Ibrahim, reportedly showed his badge and a handgun issued by the DEA while posing with the items for photos during the riot. Photos of him are in a court record.
Authorities said he entered the restricted area around the Capitol and also climbed the Peace Monument at the foot of the Capitol.
And he took part in “a WhatsApp group chat with at least five other law enforcement officers” during the invasion of the Capitol, according to the court record.
That file also states that after Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot and killed by a Capitol cop while crawling through a window that led to the House of Representatives, she was taken outside on a stretcher and “In steps of Ibrahim” came by. “
A friend of Ibrahim’s who stood with him filmed Babbitt as “she was brought past them” in an ambulance, “the file says.
Photos filed in a DOJ Statement of Facts court filing show Mark Sami Ibrahim in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Source: DOJ
“Ibrahim then posted this video in the WhatsApp group chat,” said the court file.
Ibrahim, who lives in Orange County, California, was a DEA probationary employee at the time of the riot, which began after Trump urged attendees at a White House rally to march to the Capitol and against congressional approval to fight the election of Joe Biden for president that day.
He had announced his planned resignation several weeks before a horde of Trump supporters invaded the Capitol, according to the court record.
“He was not on duty for the DEA and had no role as a law enforcement officer on the Capitol grounds,” the file said. This document also stated that Ibrahim was on personal leave of absence from the DEA when he traveled to Washington, DC
A friend of Ibrahim’s told FBI agents that he went to the protest “to promote himself” while he was considering launching a podcast and cigar brand, the file said.
Photos from a DOJ Statement of Facts showing a portion of the above photo showing IBRAHIM’s DEA badge and firearm in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Source: DOJ
Cell phone data shows that Ibrahim arrived at the Capitol grounds at around 1:06 pm on January 6 – about 13 minutes after a crowd began to break open the fences that barricaded the area – and that three minutes later he “went for several Posing photos showing him flashing and showing his DEA badge and firearm. ”
“Ibrahim’s friend took these photos at Ibrahim’s request,” says the court document.
A video published on the Internet shows Ibrahim around 1:45 p.m. that day with a flagpole with a flag with a blue five-pointed star and the words “LIBERTY OR TOD”, according to the court record. At the time, Ibrahim was about 120 meters within the first fence that barricaded the Capitol.
Photos filed in a DOJ Statement of Facts court filing show Mark Sami Ibrahim in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Source: DOJ
“At around 2:10 pm Ibrahim made a video of himself, which he then posted in the WhatsApp group chat [with other law enforcement officers], in the crowd on a patch of grass above the United States Capitol Visitor Center between the Capitol’s east portico and the Senate, “the file says.
“Question mark, do you have your service weapon and your badge / ID?” a member of the WhatsApp group chat asked Ibrahim, referring to his DEA credentials. “I need to know this sign.”
Ibrahim later became the subject of an investigation conducted by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
As part of this investigation, according to court records, he was interviewed via video conference on March 15 by an agent from the OIG office in the presence of his lawyer.
After being advised not to lie to the agents, which would be a federal crime, Ibrahim admitted to having been to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and admitted he had his DEA badge and credentials, as well as his agency-issued weapon wore.
“Ibrahim has denied showing or exhibiting his DEA badge and firearm in the Capitol,” the file said. “In particular, Ibrahim said,” I had my creed. I had my gun and badge with me. . . But never exposed. . . Not that I know of.”
“During his interview, Ibrahim admitted hearing the tear gas canisters – he said he heard the pop,” the file said.
Ibrahim also told the OIG agent that he went to the Capitol that day with a friend and relative at the friend’s request, according to the file.
Ibrahim alleged that his friend “was asked by the FBI to document the incident and he went with his friend to help in those efforts,” the court document reads.
The friend later told the OIG agent that “Ibrahim made up this story … in an effort to cover up ‘his A–‘” and that the friend never received an order from the FBI to document the riot.
“According to Ibrahim’s friend, Ibrahim went to the rally to promote himself,” the file said. “Ibrahim had been thinking about his next move after leaving the DEA and wanted the protests to be his stage for the launch of a political podcast and a Liberty Tavern brand of cigars.”
