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DEA agent was arrested on charges of storming the Capitol as part of the January 6 insurrection. Mark Ibrahim carried his DEA-issued badge and gun and posted about it in a groupchat, per the FBI.- A friend told the FBI Ibrahim lied about his participation to "cover his a--," according to an affidavit.
An agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency was arrested Tuesday after the FBI accused him of storming the Capitol on January 6 and lying to Justice Department officials about his participation in the insurrection.
Prosecutors accused the DEA agent, Mark Ibrahim, of bringing a gun to the Capitol grounds as part of a mob of Donald Trump supporters who sought to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
According to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court in Washington, DC, Ibrahim wore his DEA-issued badge and firearm while protesting the election results. A friend Ibrahim was with took a video of Ashli Babbitt's body being moved by paramedics, and Ibrahim shared the video in a WhatsApp groupchat with other law enforcement officials, the affidavit said.
The FBI affidavit includes several photos of Ibrahim appearing to pose for a camera during the riot, as well as one photo that appears to be a selfie.
Officials in the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General interviewed Ibrahim, according to the affidavit. Ibrahim told the officials he attended the event with a friend who was asked to document the event for the FBI, the affidavit said.
When the FBI agent interviewed the friend Ibrahim cited, the friend said Ibrahim made up the story.
"IBRAHIM's friend told your affiant that he was not there in any formal capacity for the FBI and that the FBI was not giving him directions or marching orders," the agent wrote in the affidavit. "He said that IBRAHIM crafted this story in an effort to 'cover his a--.'"
The friend also told the agent that Ibrahim wanted to promote himself in advance of a potential podcast and cigar brand launch.
"According to IBRAHIM's friend, IBRAHIM went to the rally in order to promote himself - 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," the affidavit said.
In an interview with Fox
Ibrahim was on personal leave from the DEA on January 6 and previously told the agency he planned to resign, according to the FBI affidavit. One of his attorneys told Reuters in March that he was suspended from the agency because of his activities at the Capitol. Representatives for the DEA didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about Ibrahim's employment status.