A former FBI intelligence analyst alleges that President Trump ordered the bureau to investigate anti-ICE demonstrators in Los Angeles — pulling agents off active cartel cases to do it — after he saw a TikTok video of people warning neighbors about immigration raids.
Jill Fields, a former supervisory intelligence analyst in the FBI's Los Angeles field office, filed a whistleblower complaint claiming the White House demanded investigations and arrests of protesters it saw on social media, and that a "dedicated immigration squad" of 10 agents was created to carry out the requests. Some of those agents were taken off cartel cases, Fields alleges — cartel cases involving the organizations flooding American communities with fentanyl.
The complaint, reviewed by both The Guardian and CNN, describes two incidents in early 2025. In one, then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directed the FBI to open an investigation into protesters outside a federal building in California. In the other, Trump saw a TikTok video of demonstrators in Alhambra using bullhorns to alert neighbors about the presence of ICE and CBP officers and advise them of their legal rights. FBI Director Kash Patel then told top FBI leaders the president "was angry about the incident, and he wanted those protesters investigated and arrested," according to the complaint.
Fields says her team determined the protesters' actions were constitutionally protected and there was insufficient evidence of a crime. A colleague told her: "the president wants this investigation." Fields says a supervisor acknowledged the probe was unconstitutional but said the directive still had to be followed — calling it "optics" designed to "make a show for the president."
Here is where the framing war breaks open. The Guardian and CNN both call them "anti-ICE protesters" exercising First Amendment rights. The Justice Department responds that "conspiracies to impede federal law enforcement and assaults on federal officers are against the law" and "violence is not protected by the First Amendment." A DOJ spokesperson told CNN the department will "vigorously uphold the First Amendment rights of all Americans" while investigating "potential violations of federal law." The White House denied the allegations outright. Spokesperson Lauren Bis called them "false" in a statement to The Guardian.
California Senator Alex Padilla, the top Democrat on the border security and immigration subcommittee, called the allegations "deeply alarming" and said "using the FBI to target Americans for exercising their first amendment rights directly undermines our nation's foundational values."
Fields says she was not aware of any "actual or potential national security threat, federal criminal activity, or vulnerability" that would have justified the investigations. She was stripped of her team and lost support from FBI leadership, pushing her to resign from the bureau — she believes it was retaliation for objecting.
The question isn't only whether the White House crossed a constitutional line. It's whether an administration that ran on securing the border redirected resources away from the cartels killing Americans — to investigate people with bullhorns, for a show. The optics cut both ways.
