DEA agent’s riot badge of shame

A dimwitted DEA agent with dreams of launching a career in podcasting showed off his gun and badge at the U.S. Capitol riot — then lied to the FBI about it, prosecutors say.

Mark Ibrahim was off-duty and on personal leave from the DEA when he joined the Jan. 6 insurrection with a friend and a relative, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit unsealed Tuesday.

Ibrahim, a probationary agent, was considering changing careers and had grand plans for a “Liberty Tavern” political podcast and line of cigars, according to a friend who spoke to the FBI, filings show. Ibrahim allegedly saw the riot as an opportunity to boost his brand. “According to Ibrahim’s friend, Ibrahim went to the rally in order to promote himself,” the affidavit reads.

Court documents show that Ibrahim had a full photo shoot during the riot. Some of the photos capture Ibrahim showing off his DEA badge and holstered DEA-issued firearm. Ibrahim posed holding a flag reading “LIBERTY or DEATH” on restricted grounds at the Capitol building, according to the feds.

He also recorded a “monologue” while standing on the Peace Monument on Capitol grounds, according to the filing.

When later confronted by the FBI, Ibrahim allegedly lied.

“I had my creds. I had my firearm, and my badge on me . . . But never exposed . . . Not that I know of,” Ibrahim told the FBI, according to the affidavit.

He also claimed that he attended the riot to assist his friend, who’d been asked by the FBI to document the event. The friend said that claim was false and that Ibrahim had invented the story to “cover his a—,” according to filings.

At least 20 off-duty members of law enforcement have been charged with joining the Capitol mob. A total of 545 people have been slapped with charges tied to the insurrection, according to a tally by George Washington University’s Program on Extremism.

Astonishingly, Ibrahim shared his photos in real time on a WhatsApp chat thread with at least five other members of law enforcement.

“Question Mark, you are carrying your duty weapon and your badge/creds? I need to know this,” one of the members of the chat group asked Ibrahim.