Overview

• A dismissal letter dated Oct. 1 and signed by Patel removed the new agent trainee from federal service for “poor judgment” and an “inappropriate display of political signage.”
• Reporting links the case to a Pride flag the employee displayed at a Los Angeles field office last year, though the letter did not mention the flag by name.
• The notice cited the president’s Article II powers and the trainee’s probationary status, mirroring legal rationales in other recent DOJ and FBI firings that are now being challenged in court.
• The firing arrived on the first day of the government shutdown, and some FBI personnel subsequently reviewed workspaces and social media for material that might be viewed as politically sensitive.
• The trainee had served as a field office diversity coordinator and received awards, while longtime FBI staff say Pride flags were historically allowed at desks; the action follows Patel’s recent dismissals of agents who knelt during 2020 crowd control.