By Steve Neavling
FBI Director Kash Patel has fired a new agent in training for displaying a gay pride flag at his desk, calling it an improper political message, MSNBC reports.
In an Oct. 1 letter to the trainee, a former FBI support specialist in Los Angeles, Patel wrote that “I have determined that you exercised poor judgment with an inappropriate display of political signage in your work area during your previous assignment in the Los Angeles Field Office.”
Patel ordered him “summarily dismissed from your position as a New Agent Trainee at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and removed from the federal service.”
The letter did not specifically mention the flag but cited President Donald Trump’s Article II powers as justification for the firing. The Trump administration has used the same rationale in other recent dismissals at the Justice Department and FBI, now being challenged in court.
The trainee, who received an Attorney General’s Award in 2022 for his work, could not be reached for comment. The FBI also declined to comment.
News of the firing spread quickly inside the bureau, where some agents began scrubbing desks and social media accounts for anything that could be viewed as offensive to Trump or his allies, according to one person familiar with the reaction.
Even before Trump took office, some FBI agents warned colleagues to avoid signaling support for LGBTQ rights, fearing retaliation from new appointees.
