Whistleblower says Trump demanded FBI probe into protesters over a TikTok he saw

By Holmes Lybrand, Evan Perez, Priscilla Alvarez, CNN

(CNN) — The FBI opened preliminary investigations targeting anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters in Southern California, a former FBI intelligence official alleged in a whistleblower complaint, adding that she believed the move violated the law and agency policy.

The investigations were opened in early 2025 in the early weeks of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown following demands from President Donald Trump and other administration officials, according to the disclosure by Jill Fields, a former supervisory intelligence analyst in the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.

CNN reviewed the complaint, which was filed by lawyers representing Fields to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A Justice Department spokesperson told CNN said the DOJ will continue to “vigorously uphold the First Amendment rights of all Americans and restore the rule of law.”

“The DOJ and FBI have a responsibility to investigate any potential violations of federal law, and conspiracies to impede federal law enforcement and assaults on federal officers are against the law,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Violence is not protected by the First Amendment. Politically motivated attacks will not deter us from doing our job.”

A statement from the White House also suggested the investigation was focused on violent acts, which it said are not protected by the First Amendment.

“These allegations are FALSE. The First Amendment does not protect violent rioting, obstructing law enforcement, and assaulting law enforcement,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement. “Assaulting and obstructing law enforcement is a crime. This administration has been clear: anyone who assaults or obstructs law enforcement will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

CNN has also reached out to the FBI for comment.

In at least one instance, the FBI began preliminary investigations of protesters after the president demanded an investigation of people he saw in a TikTok video depicting demonstrators against ICE and Customs and Border Protection in Alhambra, California. The protesters were using bullhorns to warn neighbors about the presence of immigration-enforcement officers, Fields’ disclosure said.

Following the February 2025 protest in Alhambra, an analyst who worked under Fields “informed her that the squad had been ordered to run pre‑assessment checks on the two to four anti‑ICE and CBP protesters in the video accused of impeding an immigration arrest, even though FBI policy prohibits opening investigations based solely on First Amendment‑protected activity, and the squad did not yet have evidence of a crime,” lawyers representing Fields said in a letter to senators.

The investigations came after FBI Director Kash Patel told top FBI leaders that the president “was angry about the incident, and he wanted those protesters investigated and arrested,” the letter said.

In a letter to Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche, citing the whistleblower complaint, Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla questioned the Justice Department on how many investigations into protestors were currently active and whether Trump had directed other, similar investigations.

Fields’ whistleblower complaint disclosed two separate incidents in which she said White House officials demanded the FBI investigate and arrest anti-ICE protesters.

A separate incident weeks earlier sparked a similar focus on free speech, according to Fields, when then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove demanded the FBI investigate a group of anti-ICE protestors outside a federal building in California.

In both cases, Fields noted that First Amendment protections prohibited such investigations and potential charges unless other action beyond speech had taken place.

When she raised the issue with one superior, Fields says she was told it had to happen.

The former analyst said she was stripped of her team and lost support from FBI leadership in her Los Angeles office, pushing her to ultimately resign from the bureau.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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