{"id":1652923,"date":"2022-09-22T09:07:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T13:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1652923"},"modified":"2022-09-22T09:10:20","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T13:10:20","slug":"fbi-special-agent-allegedly-suspended-for-refusing-to-use-excessive-force-against-jan-6-accusees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-special-agent-allegedly-suspended-for-refusing-to-use-excessive-force-against-jan-6-accusees\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI Special Agent Allegedly Suspended for Refusing to Use  \u201cExcessive Force\u201d Against Jan 6 Accusees"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffbi-special-agent-allegedly-suspended-for-refusing-to-use-excessive-force-against-jan-6-accusees%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1652923&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Bombshell allegations by FBI Special Agent Steve Friend contained in a whistleblower complaint filed late Wednesday with the Department of Justice inspector general reveal a politicized Washington, DC, FBI field office cooking the books to exaggerate the threat <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/10\/25\/ag-merrick-garland-white-house-owe-americas-domestic-terrorist-parents-an-apology-and-an-explanation\/\">of domestic terrorism,<\/a> and \u00adusing an \u201coverzealous\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/09\/21\/virginia-thomas-agrees-to-interview-with-jan-6-panel\/\">January 6 \u00adinvestigation<\/a> to harass conservative Americans and violate their constitutional rights.<\/p>\n<p>Friend, 37, a respected 12-year veteran of the FBI and a SWAT team member, was suspended Monday, stripped of his gun and badge, and escorted out of the FBI field office in Daytona Beach, Fla., after complaining to his supervisors about the violations.<\/p>\n<p>He was declared absent without leave last month for refusing to participate in SWAT raids that he believed violated FBI policy and were a use of excessive force against Jan. 6 \u00adsubjects accused <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/01\/17\/capitol-riot-seen-in-new-shocking-footage-like-never-before\/\">of misdemeanor \u00adoffenses.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This American hero, the father of two small children, has blown up his \u201cdream career\u201d because he could not live with his conscience if he continued to be part of what he sees as the unjust persecution <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/26\/ny-dj-who-smoked-pot-during-capitol-riot-sentenced-to-3-years\/\">of conservative Americans.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have an oath to uphold the Constitution,\u201d he told supervisors when he asserted his conscientious objection to joining an Aug. 24 raid <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/12\/10\/jan-6-capitol-riot-select-committee-issues-six-new-subpoenas\/\">on a J6 subject<\/a> in the Jacksonville, Fla., area. \u201cI have a moral objection and want to be considered a conscientious objector.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Friend, who did not vote for <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/21\/the-lefts-mask-slips-on-brazen-trump-bias\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> in the 2020 election, said he told his immediate boss twice that he believed the raid, and the investigative process leading up to it, violated FBI policy and the subject\u2019s right under the Sixth Amendment to a fair trial and Eighth Amendment right against cruel <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/01\/far-right-militiaman-guy-reffitt-sentenced-to-7-years-for-capitol-riot\/\">and unusual punishment.<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/Solo-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"426\" height=\"655\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Solo-2.jpg\" alt=\"Steve Friend\" class=\"wp-image-23958657\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Solo-2-1.jpg 426w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Solo-2-1.jpg&amp;w=213 213w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Friend served as a SWAT team member.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Anna Friend<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Multiple violations<\/h2>\n<p>In his whistleblower complaint to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, obtained by The Post, Friend lays out multiple violations of FBI policy <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/08\/20\/fbi-finds-little-evidence-capitol-siege-was-organized-plot\/\">involving J6 investigations<\/a> in which he was involved.<\/p>\n<p>He says he was removed from active investigations into child sexual exploitation and human trafficking to work on J6 cases sent from DC. He was told \u201cdomestic terrorism was a higher priority\u201d than child pornography. As a result, he believes his child exploitation investigations were harmed.<\/p>\n<p>He also has reported his concerns about <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/30\/trump-says-report-about-fbi-agent-proves-2020-election-tainted\/\">a politicized FBI<\/a> to Republican members of Congress, among 20 whistleblowers from the bureau who have come forward with similar complaints.<\/p>\n<h2>Among Friend\u2019s allegations:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Washington, DC, field office is \u201cmanipulating\u201d FBI case management protocol and farming out J6 cases to field offices across the country to create the false impression that <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/15\/accused-buffalo-shooter-payton-gendron-left-note-for-parents\/\">right-wing domestic violence<\/a> is a widespread national problem that goes far beyond the \u201cblack swan\u201d event of Jan. 6, 2021.<\/li>\n<li>As a result, he was listed as lead agent in cases he had not investigated and which his supervisor had not signed off on, in violation of FBI policy.<\/li>\n<li>\u200aFBI domestic terrorism cases are being opened on innocent American citizens who were nowhere near the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/01\/16\/dems-are-using-the-capitol-riot-to-hunt-political-foes\/\">Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021<\/a>, based on anonymous tips to an FBI hotline or from Facebook spying on their messages. These tips are turned into investigative tools called \u201cguardians,\u201d after the FBI software that collates them.<\/li>\n<li>\u200aThe FBI has post-facto designated a grassy area outside the Capitol as a restricted zone, when it was not restricted on Jan. 6, 2021, in order to widen the net of prosecutions.<\/li>\n<li>\u200aThe FBI intends to prosecute everyone even peripherally associated with J6 and another <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/04\/04\/alleged-capitol-rioter-gets-jail-time-for-hoarding-guns-in-nyc\/\">wave of J6 subjects<\/a> are about to be referred to the FBI\u2019s Daytona Beach resident agency \u201cfor investigation and arrest.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u200aThe Jacksonville area was \u201cinundated\u201d with \u201cguardian\u201d notifications and FBI agents were dispatched to conduct surveillance and knock on people\u2019s doors, including people who had not been in Washington, DC, on Jan. 6, 2021, or who had been to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/07\/22\/trumps-jan-6-silence-renders-him-unworthy-for-2024-reelection\/\">the Trump rally<\/a> that day but did not go \u00adinside the Capitol.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Friend says he was punished after complaining to his bosses about being dragged into J6 investigations that were \u201cviolating citizens\u2019 Sixth Amendment rights due to overzealous charging by the DOJ and biased jury pools in Washington, DC.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His top-secret security clearance was suspended last week because he \u201centered FBI space [his office] and downloaded documents from FBI computer systems [an employee handbook and guidelines for employee disciplinary procedures] to an unauthorized removable flash drive.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-1230454607.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-1230454607.jpg\" alt=\"U.S. Capitol\" class=\"wp-image-23958639\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-1230454607-1.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-1230454607-2.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-1230454607-3-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-1230454607-3-scaled.jpg&amp;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>FBI domestic terrorism cases are being opened on American citizens who were nowhere near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Friend alleges.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images\/Samuel Corum<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a Sept. 16 letter from the head of FBI human resources, he was told he was losing his security clearance also because he \u201cespoused beliefs which demonstrate questionable judgment [and demonstrated] an unwillingness to comply with rules and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Reprisals from bosses<\/h2>\n<p>In his whistleblower complaint, Friend describes \u201creprisals\u201d from his supervisors after he voiced his conscientious objections.<\/p>\n<p>He says they ignored his complaint about \u201cmanipulative casefile practice [which] creates false and misleading crime statistics, constituting false official federal statements.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cInstead of hundreds of investigations stemming from an isolated incident at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, FBI and DOJ officials point to significant increases in domestic violent extremism and terrorism around the United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt no point was I advised or counseled on where to take my disclosure beyond the reprising officials above; the threatened reprisal constituted a de facto gag on my whistleblowing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 19, he first told his immediate boss, Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Greg Federico, that he believed \u201cit was inappropriate to use an FBI SWAT team to arrest a subject for misdemeanor offenses and opined that the subject would likely face extended detainment and biased jury pools in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suggested alternatives such as the issuance of a court summons or utilizing surveillance groups to determine an optimal, safe time for a local sheriff deputy to contact the subjects and advise them about the existence of the arrest warrant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Federico told him it would have been better to just \u201ccall in sick\u201d rather than voice his objection and \u201cthreatened reprisal indirectly by asking how long I saw myself continuing to work for the FBI.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/Capitol-Riot-Illinois.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Capitol-Riot-Illinois.jpg\" alt=\"Steve Friend\" class=\"wp-image-23958673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Capitol-Riot-Illinois-1.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Capitol-Riot-Illinois-2.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Capitol-Riot-Illinois-3-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Capitol-Riot-Illinois-3-scaled.jpg&amp;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Friend refused to participate in SWAT raids that he believed violated FBI policy and were a use of excessive force against Jan. 6 \u00adsubjects.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP\/John Minchillo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Four days later, Friend was summoned to Jacksonville to meet his next-level bosses, Assistant Special Agents in Charge Coult Markovsky and Sean Ryan, about his refusal to join the SWAT raid.<\/p>\n<p>He told them about his concerns over \u201cirregular\u201d case handling of J6 matters that he believed were in violation of a legal rule known as \u201cBrady\u201d that requires prosecutors to disclose evidence that would exonerate a defendant.<\/p>\n<p>They asked if he believed any <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/09\/01\/ex-nypd-cop-thomas-webster-hit-with-longest-sentence-in-capitol-riot\/\">J6 rioters committed crimes<\/a> and he replied: \u201cSome of the people who entered the Capitol committed crimes, but others were innocent. I elaborated that I believed some innocent individuals had been unjustly prosecuted, convicted and sentenced.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>Markovsky then asked Friend if J6 rioters who \u201ckilled police officers\u201d should be prosecuted, even though no such thing happened. When Friend pointed out that \u201cthere were no police officers killed on January 6, 2021,\u201d Markovsky told him he was being a \u201cbad teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both agents \u201cthreatened reprisal again by warning that my refusal [to go on the SWAT raid] could amount to insubordination. References were made to my \u00adfuture career prospects with the FBI.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Friend was labeled AWOL the day the raid took place and stripped of his pay.<\/p>\n<p>A week later, he was told to meet the top agent in Jacksonville, Special Agent in Charge Sherri Onks, who told him he needed to do some \u201csoul searching\u201d and decide if he wanted to work for the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>When he told her \u201cmany of my colleagues expressed similar concerns to me but had not vocalized their objections to FBI executive management,\u201d she told him his \u201cviews represented an extremely small minority of the FBI workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She then shared the emotional experience of fearing for her own life on Jan. 6, 2021, when she was sitting on the seventh floor of the secure J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI headquarters, after protesters one mile away \u201cseized the Capitol and threatened the United States\u2019 democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Agents used as \u2018pawns\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Friend says his concerns are shared by large numbers of rank-and-file FBI agents across the country who believe they are being used as pawns to pursue the political agenda of the bosses in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>These kinds of abuses of the law are a \u201cmorale killer\u201d for field agents, he says.<\/p>\n<p>Many agents, who joined the FBI in the wake of 9\/11, are keeping their heads down because they are close to their 20-year retirement with full pension. But he says they are equally disgusted at being forced to take part in the politicization of federal law \u00adenforcement.<\/p>\n<p>Other whistleblowers say that disquiet grew after the FBI raid on <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/09\/15\/trump-warns-potential-indictment-off-mar-a-lago-raid-would-tear-this-country-apart\/\">Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago home<\/a> in Florida on Aug. 8.<\/p>\n<p>Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who is working with these heroic FBI agents, has been trying to introduce legislation to strengthen the bureau\u2019s woefully inadequate whistleblower protections. Friend\u2019s complaint will be a test case.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/Intelligence-Congress.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Intelligence-Congress.jpg\" alt=\"FBI Director Christopher Wray\" class=\"wp-image-23958803\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Intelligence-Congress-1.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Intelligence-Congress-2.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Intelligence-Congress-3-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Intelligence-Congress-3-scaled.jpg&amp;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>FBI Director Christopher Wray ignored Grassley\u2019s letter alleging malfeasance at the bureau.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP\/Charlie Neibergall<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a letter to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/07\/31\/fbi-director-christopher-wray-are-in-for-a-rude-wake-up-call-over-hunter-biden-investigation\/\">FBI Director Christopher Wray<\/a> on Aug. 11, Grassley alleged that a committee of FBI field agents had been to see Wray to express the concerns of agents in all 56 field offices across the country that \u201cthe FBI has become too politicized in its decision-making.\u201d Grassley further alleges \u201cthose concerns were removed from this year\u2019s final report\u201d of the FBI\u2019s Special Agents Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n<p>Wray ignored Grassley\u2019s letter along with a dozen other letters from the dogged Iowa senator alleging gross malfeasance at the bureau.<\/p>\n<p>But unrest is growing among field agents about the weaponization of the FBI <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/31\/tyrannical-old-joe-bidens-secret-police-state\/\">against the Biden administration\u2019s<\/a> political opponents under Wray. He can\u2019t \u00adignore it for long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bombshell allegations by FBI Special Agent Steve Friend contained in a whistleblower complaint filed late Wednesday with the Department of Justice inspector general reveal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1363926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1652923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1652923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1363926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1652923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1652923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1652923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}