A former FBI intelligence supervisor in Los Angeles, Jill Fields, says the president personally pushed the bureau to investigate people seen on a TikTok video warning their neighbors about immigration agents. In a whistleblower disclosure dated October 5, 2026 and sent to Senators John Cornyn and Alex Padilla, she says a colleague told her that the President viewed the footage of protesters in Alhambra, California, and “instructed FBI Director Kash Patel to have the Los Angeles Field Office open an investigation into the protesters.” At Patel's first meeting with field office chiefs, the disclosure says, participants were told the president “was angry about the incident, and he wanted those protesters investigated and arrested.”
Agents found the conduct, which the disclosure describes as video recording, use of a megaphone and verbal objection, to be protected by the First Amendment, and “the C-1 squad declined to open an investigation.” Fields says she “does not know whether a formal investigation was ultimately opened in FBI systems because she was excluded from further involvement after objecting.” The disclosure also describes a separate directive from then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to investigate people protesting ICE and CBP in Los Angeles, which led to a “Type 3 Assessment” of protesters. Fields later resigned and says she faced retaliation.
The account of Trump's role is secondhand: Fields reports what colleagues told her. The White House denied it. “These allegations are FALSE. The First Amendment does not protect violent rioting, obstructing law enforcement, and assaulting law enforcement,” spokeswoman Lauren Bis said.