By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Some law enforcement officers around the country have taken a knee in solidarity with protesters marching against police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Now, a video posted on the social media platform TikTok shows FBI agents in Washington recently taking a knee for protesters who urged them to do so.

Some appreciated the gesture, but not all.

“Makes me sick,” one former FBI agent tells ticklethewire.com. “We took an oath to defend our country,  not to submit to those that don’t respect our country.”

But former FBI agent Tom O’Connor, who retired from the bureau last year, and served as the president of the FBI Agents Association from 2016-19, has a different take, telling ticklethewire.com:

“During these difficult times, Law Enforcement Officers and Agents are having to make difficult decisions in an effort to protect the absolute right of 1st Amendment free speech and protest.  At the same time keeping the public safe from those who wish to highjack the important voice for change.  Taking a path to avoid the potential for violence is the right choice.”

@sonnywithnochancesTHE FBI KNEELED WITH US IN DC!!!! ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ ##blacklivesmatter ##blm ##georgefloyd♬ original sound – sonnywithnochances

Greg Ehrie (FBI photo)

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Greg Ehrie, a 22-year veteran of the FBI, has been hired by the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization, as vice president of  Law enforcement and Analysis.

In this role, Ehrie will lead efforts to “further partnerships and engagement” with federal, state and local law enforcement across the country and supervise new program development to battle hate,  the ADL said in a press release.

During his tenure with the FBI, Ehrie rose to special agent in charge of the Newark Field Office.  He previously served in a number of posts including  supervisor of the New York Office’s Domestic Terrorism squad and section chief of the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Operations Section.

Additionally, he was deployed for two years to the Joint Task Force, U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was named the first permanent supervisor for FBI Detainee Operations. The job included being a senior representative to the Intelligence Community and leading a team that conducted detainee interviews, threat assessments and analysis.

He graduated in 1990 from Manhattan College in New York  where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has also earned executive certificates from the Kellogg School of Management,  Northwestern University and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. 

The ADL promotes itself as a leading anti-hate organization.

Photo via Border Patrol

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

An off-duty Border Patrol agent foiled a robbery and carjacking outside of a mall in Tucson, Ariz.

The agent was in the parking lot of the Park Place Mall when he heard a woman shouting for help. The agent saw four suspects trying to steal a woman’s vehicle and purse.

When the agent confronted the suspect and ordered them to stop, they fled on foot, CBP said in a news release.

Tucson Police Department is investigating.

The victim and agent provided the department with details about the suspects.

Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Deputy Damon Gutzwiller.

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

The FBI is working with local investigators to determine whether there’s a link between the shooting deaths of two law enforcement officers in California.

A suspect in the deadly, ambush shooting of a Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office deputy on Saturday was arrested and wounded in a shootout with officers in Santa Cruz. The suspect has been identified as Steven Carrillo, 32, an active duty sergeant at Travis Air Force Base, CNN reports.

Now the FBI is teaming up with local police to determine whether that shooting was connected to another one on May 29, when a federal security officer was fatally shot in Oakland.

“The investigation into the incident in Ben Lomond, Calif. is ongoing,” the FBI’s San Francisco office told CNN in a statement. “We are working with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department to determine a possible motive and/or links to other crimes committed in the Bay Area, to include the shooting of the FPS officers in Oakland.”

Carrillo is accused of fatally shooting Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and injuring another deputy in an ambush with a rifle and multiple improvised devices.

On May 29, Federal Protective Services Officer Dave Patrick Underwood was fatally shot while guarding the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building.

Both shootings involved a white van.