FBI Whistleblower Alleges Trump Administration Directed Illegal Investigations Into Lawful Protesters Last Year
WASHINGTON D.C. (KEYT) – A recently released whistleblower report alleges that the Trump Administration directed employees at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Field Office in Los Angeles to open investigations into legally protected protest activities last year.
According to a whistleblower disclosure by former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Jill Fields, the President of the United States personally directed the law enforcement agency to open investigations and arrest protesters in California, a violation of the U.S. Constitution and agency policies.
Early last year, the whistleblower shared, employees were reassigned from investigating violent and transnational crimes, "To support the immigration push, the Los Angeles Field Office established a dedicated immigration squad focused solely on immigration matters. The squad consisted of approximately ten agents, many of whom were reassigned from the cartels squad, while others were drawn from volunteers or personnel directed to participate. Los Angeles is a major transshipment hub for drug trafficking and Ms. Fields questioned the directive's operational logic, as agents were pulled off active cartel cases".
This reassignment of critical law enforcement operations to politically directed ones also included directives to avoid preservation of internal documentation of the changes.
"During meetings on this [immigration reassignment] initiative, Ms. Fields experienced supervisors
encouraging her and others to not put things in writing and noticed many directives and subsequent
discussions were conducted in face-to-face meetings rather than over email," noted the whistleblower.
A supervisor who had their name redacted in the report informed Fields, that the new task force she was expected to lead was for "optics" and intended to "make a show for the president".
In early 2025, supervisors informed Fields that the former Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove had instructed Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles FBI Field Office, top open an investigation into any anti-ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] or anti-CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Patrol] protesters demonstrating near federal buildings in Los Angeles stated the whistleblower statement.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits, "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Fields noted the illegal nature of the request.
"This information [directing investigations into legally protected public protesters] surprised Ms. Fields because investigations against protestors solely for First Amendment activity are explicitly illegal and contrary to FBI policy," explained this week's whistleblower disclosure. "Ms. Fields was therefore surprised because [NAME REDACTED] described a directive focused on opening investigations into protesters based solely on their participation in anti-ICE and CBP demonstrations, rather than on information indicating a federal crime, threat to national security, or other authorized basis for FBI investigative activity."
Former Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to a lifetime position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in July of last year.
When the directive was shared with employees at the FBI Field Office in Los Angeles, Assistant Director in Charge Davis also ordered the creation of an authorized purpose of the broad investigations known as a Type 3 Assessment.
According to the FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide which details the rules within the law enforcement organization, that basis of a Type 3 Assessment is limited to national security threats, federal criminal activities, or the vulnerability to such threats.
"The directive to conduct a Type 3 Assessment on a wide-swath of anti-ICE and CBP protestors was problematic because, in Ms. Fields's view, it sought to use investigative methods to scrutinize individuals engaged in lawful First Amendment expression and assembly activity in the absence of any identified threat of violence, criminal conduct, or national security concern," stated Wednesday's disclosure. "The DIOG [Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide] expressly identifies the opening of an assessment or investigation solely because of a group's social or political agenda as improper and further provides that individuals or groups who oppose government policies, protest government actions, advocate social or political causes, promote religious beliefs, or recruit others to join such causes retain a fundamental constitutional right to engage in those activities."
According to Fields, protesters were the subject of the investigative attention because they demonstrated outside of federal buildings and no actual or potential national security threat, federal criminal activity, or vulnerability purpose was identified and she did not believe there was an investigative purpose for the Type 3 Assessment.
Fields made her concerns about the potentially illegal nature of the request known to her supervisors who shared they believed, "we have to" and that if they refused, "that they could not afford that or any potential risks to their family."
Ultimately, Fields declined to prepare the assessment and she was replaced.
"The fact that another supervisory official prepared the opening EC [electronic communication] was itself unusual because opening documentation for this type of assessment ordinarily would have been drafted by an Intelligence Analyst and reviewed by supervisory personnel. Ms. Fields reasonably believed that management intentionally bypassed frontline personnel, including line agents and line analysts to avoid objections and resistance," explained the whistleblower statement.
Despite the concerns and fears of FBI employees, the assessment was opened and the Los Angeles Field Office's personnel who observe social media were directed to "conduct advanced monitoring of online activity associated with planned demonstrations" detailed this week's disclosure. "[Fields] believed this was an improper use of a Type 3 Assessment because a Type 3 Assessment should not be used to proactively search for information on individuals engaged solely in protected speech activity."
On February 26, 2025, a video was posted on social media by the League of United Latin American Citizens showing community members in Alhambra, California, sharing accurate legal advice and using megaphones to alert community members about the presence of federal law enforcement.
"[REDACTED NAME] informed Ms. Fields that the President viewed the footage on social media and instructed FBI Director Kash Patel to have the Los Angeles Field Office open an investigation into the protesters," noted Wednesday's whistleblower statement. "[REDACTED NAME] explained that during FBI Director Kash Patel's first meeting with FBI Special Agents in Charge, participants had been informed that the President had viewed video footage of the Alhambra protesters, he was angry about the incident, and he wanted those protesters investigated and arrested."
According to Fields' disclosure, an analyst under her supervision told her that, "the Criminal Program squad that covers activities including violent crimes, fugitives, and bank robberies, informed her that the squad had been ordered to run pre‑assessment checks on the two to four anti‑ICE and CBP protesters in the video accused of impeding an immigration arrest, even though FBI policy prohibits opening investigations based solely on First Amendment‑protected activity, and the squad did not yet have evidence of a crime."
Fields shared in her statement that concerns about the legality of the directives were noted in a Feb. 28, 2025, email that shared Los Angeles-based FBI agents had, "determined that the protesters' actions—video recording, use of a megaphone, and verbal objection—were constitutionally protected under the First Amendment and never crossed the line into impeding arrest or being a threat."
Despite the assessment of its legality, Fields noted in her disclosure that the investigation was opened because, "the President wants this investigation" and that "[w]hen Ms. Fields refused to participate, her supervisor warned that she could be fired if she did not follow the order. Ms. Fields maintained her refusal to participate in the investigation."
Eventually, Fields was reassigned from the task force and Wednesday's disclosure noted, "Ms. Fields believes this reassignment constituted retaliation for her protected disclosures. No comparable action had been taken against her until after she objected to the protest-related investigations and reported those concerns outside her chain of command. With her squad removed and leadership refusing to support her, Ms. Fields recognized that she could no longer remain in her role and chose to resign."
"[I]nvestigations perceived as targeting individuals solely for protected political activity risk undermining public confidence in the FBI and eroding trust that federal investigative powers will be exercised in a lawful, impartial, and constitutionally compliant manner," concluded Fields' whistleblower statement. "[S]ignificant law enforcement resources were diverted from core public-safety missions. Intelligence analysts and investigative personnel were reassigned from ongoing matters involving drug trafficking, violent crime, cargo theft, and transnational organized crime to support protest-related inquiries that lacked a comparable threat basis. This diversion impaired the Los Angeles Field Office's ability to focus on critical public-safety and national-security priorities. The events also exposed failures in internal compliance and oversight mechanisms. Multiple personnel recognized that the proposed investigative activities raised serious constitutional and policy concerns, yet those concerns did not prevent the directives from moving forward."
In a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, California Senator Alex Padilla noted the allegations from the whistleblower disclosure, demanded more information about the investigations including their length and how many people were surveilled in this manner, and warning that all related documents and information must be preserved and presented to his office.
"Throughout your [Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel] appearances before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, you promised that cases would be based only on the facts and the law, free from political interference," noted Senator Padilla Wednesday. "But the Disclosure paints a starkly different picture and raises serious questions about whether other similar investigations have been initiated under your tenures. The Disclosure depicts an FBI and DOJ willing to surveil individuals solely for First Amendment activity criticizing the Administration—at the behest of the White House and Trump loyalists, over the objection of senior staff, and in contravention of agency policy and the Constitution. Such allegations raise grave concerns about the rule of law under your leadership, the diversion of resources from ongoing criminal investigations, and the testimony that you provided under oath to Congress."
Your News Channel uncovered that participation by members of the FBI in immigration-related operations was not limited to early last year.
While the federal government responded to Your News Channel's questions with an indirect statement about the incident followed by a blanket denial of Your News Channel's Freedom of Information Act request for more information, the local law enforcement agency did comply with state disclosure laws by providing written accounts from two of the involved officers as well as video from the body-worn cameras carried by six responding Oxnard Police Department officers.
The written and camera-captured evidence revealed that federal agents, including the agent wearing an FBI insignia, informed investigating officers that the involved observer had rammed their vehicle and they took over the investigation into the incident.
Your News Channel reached out to the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office last year to confirm that the woman shown in the image above is indeed an FBI agent.
While the federal law enforcement agency stated that FBI agents have and do assist the Department of Homeland Security with operations, they did not confirm the woman is an agent nor if an agent was assigned to the group of federal agents for a particular law enforcement purpose that day.
Despite the claims made by federal agents at the scene, videos posted after the incident showed that the vehicle driven by the observer was intentionally struck by federal agents and accounts from Oxnard Police officers captured agents taking over the investigation into what was initially a road rage incident called in by an uninvolved third party under color of law, detained and transported the observer to Los Angeles, and eventually released him without charges.
The agent driving the vehicle claimed the observer had began to drive away before coming to an abrupt stop and reversing into the agent's vehicle stated Officer Flannery's written account and captured his body camera at the scene.
According to Officer Flannery's written account and body-worn camera footage, the agent then claimed that both vehicles began to pull forward and, before he could activate the vehicle's emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop, Martinez suddenly made, "a quick sharp turn to the left, directly in front of the agent's path, and he [the agent driving the Jeep] was unable to stop in time to avoid a collision."
Responding officers noted the wide discrepancies between what federal agents and Leo Martinez had shared at the scene and one officer mentioned to Leo Martinez that there were multiple cameras along the route of the slow-speed chase before concluding, "Cameras don't lie."
The images below showed the sequence of the collision capturing both the largely undamaged front end of the agent's vehicle, the observer's truck being followed by federal agents and the sequence of events leading to the collision reported to local dispatchers as a road rage incident.
Your News Channel reached out to the FBI's Field Office in Los Angeles for more information regarding the allegations made in this week's whistleblower disclosure and the FBI's national Press Office shared the following statement in response, "Under President Trump, the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously uphold the First Amendment rights of all Americans and restore the rule of law. The DOJ and FBI have a responsibility to investigate any potential violations of federal law, and conspiracies to impede federal law enforcement and assaults on federal officers are against the law. Violence is not protected by the First Amendment. Politically motivated attacks will not deter us from doing our job."
