Attorney General Pam Bondi dismissed a Justice Department paralegal on Friday after allegations that the employee made an obscene gesture toward National Guard personnel stationed in the nation's capital.
Bondi disclosed the firing in a post on X, writing, "If you oppose our mission and disrespect law enforcement -- you will NO LONGER work at DOJ."
The employee was identified as Elizabeth Baxter of the department's environmental defense section, according to a memo addressed to her and published by The New York Post.
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The memo described Baxter allegedly raising her middle finger, using profanities at service members on Aug. 18, and later disparaging the troops, the Post reports.
President Donald Trump ordered hundreds of Guard members to Washington this month, declared a crime emergency and announced a temporary federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department.
In June, he directed Marines and Guard units to Los Angeles and warned he could send federal forces to Chicago, moves that Democratic officials in California and Illinois opposed, Reuters reports.
Trump and allies have presented the D.C. deployment as a public-safety success, while opponents question the necessity and legality.
Federal statistics show violent crime in the District fell to a three-decade low last year. "DC will soon be a CRIME FREE ZONE, in only 14 days, far faster than scheduled," Trump posted on social media.
In addition to the Guard, federal agents from multiple agencies--including the FBI--were dispatched across the capital.
After the D.C. attorney general challenged the federal plan, the administration reached an agreement with Mayor Muriel Bowser that kept Police Chief Pamela Smith in operational control of the department, Reuters adds.
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