Muslim former FBI employees say they face a 'cancer' of fear and suspicion

A Muslim former FBI analyst has told The Guardian that he believes Muslims are being "purged" from American intelligence agencies as a pretext for targeting all Muslims in the United States.

Said "Sam" Barodi, a former FBI intelligence and language analyst, has told The Guardian's Spencer Ackerman that he was fired this past February amid an increased atmosphere of hostility and suspicion toward Muslims serving in American intelligence agencies.

"Before they can go after Muslims in general, they have to purge the US intelligence community," the analyst said, while going on to describe the fear of Muslims in the bureau as a "cancer."

According to Ackerman, Barodi was "fired on 1 February 2017 after a year-long investigation" into an incident in which he "refused to confirm his status as a government employee after a U.S. customs official who was following him in a foreign airport blurted it out in a public area near his departure gate."

Gamal Abdel-Hafiz, a retired FBI agent who worked with the bureau for 22 years, told Ackerman that he does not believe there is an intentional purge of Muslims within the bureau. However, he does think that rising suspicion of Muslim agents is a real problem that started long before Trump became president.

"They harass the Muslims within the bureau, and then they beg for help within the Muslim community," he said. "How hypocritical is this?"