FBI Director Kash Patel took to the X platform on Thursday to reveal thousands of arrests related to a summer-long nationwide law enforcement push.
“Operation Summer Heat” was designed to “let good cops be cops,” Patel wrote in an X post that contained a video clip of him reviewing the push in an interview.
He revealed that in three months:
– 8,629 arrests
– 2,281 guns seized
– 44,559 kg of cocaine and 421 kg of fentanyl off the streets (enough to kill 50M Americans)
“We are not messing around,” Patel said, per an FBI press release. “Our No. 1 mission is crushing violent crime. If you hurt a child, we’re coming for you. If you jack a car, we’re coming for you. If you’re polluting our neighborhoods with deadly drugs, we’re coming for you.”
Between June 24 and September 20, the FBI carried out a nationwide operation targeting violent crime, with all 55 field offices taking part.
The initiative, conducted in coordination with state and local law enforcement, involved executing federal warrants for violent offenders and fugitives, disrupting gangs and transnational criminal groups, rescuing child victims, and resolving cases in Indian Country.
In total, authorities made 8,629 arrests, more than 6,500 of which were tied to the FBI’s Violent Crime and Gang program. Investigators also identified or located 1,053 child victims of violent crime, the FBI said.
“We are grateful for Director Kash Patel and our brave FBI agents who removed more than 8,600 violent offenders from our streets this summer,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Under President Trump’s directive to make America safe again, this Department of Justice will continue prosecuting violent crime and dismantling criminal gangs who are wreaking havoc in our communities.”
As part of the broader initiative, the FBI concentrated resources on violent crime in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; and Miami, Florida. In those cities, agents and local partners made 417 arrests and seized 159 firearms.
In a separate effort, 10 FBI field offices prioritized locating fugitives, resulting in more than 750 arrests, including over 30 individuals wanted for murder. Authorities also recovered more than 60 firearms.
Notable cases included the Philadelphia Field Office’s arrest of three suspects in the June armed robbery of more than $2 million from an armored truck, and the Kansas City Field Office’s arrest of three people tied to a violent car theft ring connected to homicides, shootings, and armed robberies, said the press release.
The FBI, meanwhile, has dismissed more than a dozen agents who were photographed kneeling during a 2020 protest in Washington, D.C., following the death of George Floyd, according to multiple reports.
Sources told the Associated Press and other outlets that roughly 20 agents were terminated after being reassigned in the years since the incident.
The agents had joined demonstrators protesting racial injustice and police violence in the wake of Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis, which was captured on video and later led to the murder conviction of former officer Derek Chauvin.
The FBI Agents Association confirmed the firings Friday and called for an independent review of the decision under current FBI Director Kash Patel. A prior internal review, conducted under then-Director Christopher Wray, concluded that the agents had not violated bureau policy by taking a knee during the demonstration.
“As Director Patel has repeatedly stated, nobody is above the law. But rather than providing these agents with fair treatment and due process, Patel chose to again violate the law by ignoring these agents’ constitutional and legal rights instead of following the requisite process,” they said in a statement.
The protest was among many nationwide that followed Floyd’s death. More than a few were violent and involved burning property, injuring police officers, and attacks on opponents.
The photograph of the FBI agents kneeling was captured on June 4, 2020, during a demonstration on Pennsylvania Avenue. The image spread quickly online, drawing sharp reactions from social media users, with some critics condemning the agents for participating.