Sic Semper Tyrannis “Always so against tyrants” is Virginia’s state motto, and it was my home for the first five years I served as an FBI special agent. Virginia is also home to the FBI Academy in Quantico. I’m not sure if this motto is poetic or ironic as it adorns the flags that fly above the ground as new agents accept their badges, professional weapons, and credentials identifying them as special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. yeah. It’s usually a proud moment for what my colleague, FBI whistleblower Steve Friend, calls a “systems idealist.”
to assume the duty to “investigate violations of United States law, gather evidence where the United States is or may be an interested party, and perform other duties imposed by law.” must be a system idealist. It’s listed in all agent credentials.
Prior to the 2021 Capitol riot, no FBI agent had ever seen an entire team, let alone an entire bureau, pursue a misdemeanor investigation.
However, that list is a rough job description. All agents also take an oath.
The oath of office is a sobering statement for system idealists. It is not only a commitment to duty;
limitthe U.S. Constitution requires those who agree to “discharge the duties of public office honestly and faithfully.”
The most important part of the Constitution for limited agents of the government (this is what is “special” about federal agents).
limited A set of powers) is a bill of rights. The first ten amendments are unique limits on government power. The first equality is freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of peaceful assembly to petition the government for redress of grievances.
My friend Steve Baker was taken into custody on Friday under oath by a Raleigh Residential Agency investigator assigned to the Charlotte, North Carolina field office, in violation of the constitutional duties of an FBI agent in the Dallas field office.
These agents carried out a political agenda handed down by the Justice Department, prosecuting opportunistic political targets, in a way that discredited the once-respected FBI. The FBI is using all normal procedures and agencies to track down peaceful and non-peaceful protesters who participated in a single black swan event at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. It is no exaggeration to say that we have abandoned the norm.
waste of time and resources
“The FBI doesn’t waste time pursuing petty crimes.” I recall this remark in an early lecture by the hilarious and legendary FBI agent and law instructor Michael J. “Bull” Bruzomi. Bull was cocky and to the point. He was loud and funny. While others might argue, he didn’t mince words.
The FBI is only interested in big fish, so they won’t waste their time on petty crimes. Serious fraud. Interstate organized crime.
bonnie and clyde. derringer gang. big match. That is the lesson that all station trainees learn.
As an FBI special agent, you don’t have to waste your time on trivia. Your job is to land the whale.
However, anyone who works in actual law enforcement can tell you that this statement can be interpreted differently. But what I’m saying is that prior to the 2021 Capitol riot, no FBI agent had taken a team-wide effort, let alone an entire bureau, to pursue misdemeanor investigations. No one swore criminal charges against journalists accused of being present and walking around while other federal crimes were committed. And no one would relentlessly pursue someone who exercised their sacred, God-given rights to speak, report, and assemble in this way because they were unpopular with the political regime.
The First Amendment was not written to protect gardening tips and small talk. This document was implemented because the people who wrote it had just completed a successful revolt and overthrow of a regime they believed to be tyrannical.
First Amendment
was It was written to protect hate speech, inflammatory speech, inflammatory speech, and all other speech that the federal government is required by the Charter to remain agnostic. The actions of the Department of Justice and the FBI have demonstrated that they actively and brazenly violate that important restriction.
Ask a question about your next order
I’m always amazed when I watch agents execute current orders. When I was a special agent, I didn’t work with people who were unjust or dishonorable. Quite the opposite. Most of the frontline agents (we call them “brick agents”) were likeable and relatable. We didn’t bring politics or outside elements into this job because it wasn’t the right environment.
The agents involved in handcuffing Steve Baker likely had no idea who he was or why he was being transported. “Another J6er” is almost certainly the extent of the description they received. After I watched a thoughtful, intelligent, humble, patriotic man travel in leg irons and a belly band and be tried for a pathetically weak misdemeanor, I wondered what their next order would be. I hope you will embrace it.
But past performance is the best predictor of future behavior, so there’s no reason to expect anything to change. The FBI broke its own rules and pursued the January 6 targets for violations large and small. Why stop now?
Of course, Steve Baker is not the first journalist to be charged, convicted, and potentially jailed for attending or covering the events of that day. But he is one of the most damaging investigators who has exposed how deceitful and biased the Justice Department’s rhetoric over the past three years has been. It is clear that the FBI is “just doing its job” blinders, and system idealists will be the worst abusers of the oath they are sworn to follow.
The FBI has become a tool of tyrants. It has allowed itself to be captured by ideology and political objectives. In the words of a senior brick agent, “Even if your work is good, [the FBI] Irredeemable. ” In fact, the FBI has abused its principles and prestige to provide inaccurate reporting, wasting the hard-won trust of many Americans. Steve Baker deeply damaged that story. And because he was in trouble, he was paraded in front of the court in shackles.
Sic Semper Tyrannis.
