Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday fired a Justice Department employee for protesting against federal troops stationed in Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth Baxter was removed from her position as a paralegal specialist in the department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division after she flipped off National Guard patrolling D.C. amid President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of the city to combat crime.
DOJ spokesman Gates McGavick praised the termination on Friday, writing in a post on X, “if you don’t support law enforcement, [Attorney General Pam Bondi’s] DOJ might not be a good fit.”
The announcement marks the second time in weeks Bondi has ousted a DOJ employee accused of demonstrating against the federalization of the country’s capital. Earlier this month, paralegal Sean Dunn was fired from the department and slapped with a misdemeanor charge after being video recorded yelling obscenities at federal agents and throwing a Subway sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer.
Baxter worked in the same building as Dunn, according to the New York Post. On three separate occasions during the month of August, she was recorded on DOJ security cameras flipping off National Guard troops or recounting the incident, as well as shouting “f*** you” at the troops, per the outlet.
A memo signed by Bondi on Friday said Baxter was fired “effective immediately” for “inappropriate conduct.”
Trump’s D.C. takeover has stirred controversy due to concerns that his actions constitute an authoritarian abuse of presidential powers.
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Others have defended the policy as necessary to combat crime in the country’s capital, with D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser expressing thanks to Trump earlier this week for sending troops to assist the district’s understaffed police force.
“The most significant thing that we are highlighting today is the area of crime that was most troubling for us in 2023,” she said, noting that since the surge of federal officers, carjackings fell by 87% compared to the same period last year. “We know that when carjackings go down, when the use of gun goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer. So this surge has been important to us.”