Senior U.S. Marshals Official Put On Leave Over Alleged Racist Incident

Assistant Director Peter Marketos, the senior official who runs the U.S. Marshals Service Investigative Operations Division, has been placed on administrative leave over an alleged racist incident in which a watermelon was left on a Black subordinate's desk, according to people familiar with the matter.^[1]

The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) confirmed that an unnamed senior official had been sidelined, saying in a statement that the agency "takes allegations of misconduct very seriously," but cited federal privacy laws in declining to discuss the specifics of the case.^[1] Staff were told in an internal email that veteran official Don Snider would assume leadership of the Investigative Operations Division on Monday, and a source told CBS News that Marketos is expected to be terminated following the internal inquiry.^[1]

People briefed on the situation told CBS News that the alleged incident centered on a watermelon placed on the desk of a Black employee who worked under Marketos, an act widely understood in the U.S. as invoking a racist trope against Black people.^[1] Those sources said the episode was reported through internal channels, prompting the Marshals Service to open a misconduct investigation and move Marketos off his post while it proceeds.^[1]

The shake-up comes at a sensitive moment for the Marshals Service, which, like other federal law enforcement agencies, has pledged in recent years to improve workplace culture and diversity and has faced scrutiny over how it disciplines senior leaders compared with rank-and-file employees. The decision to quickly install Snider as acting head of investigative operations underscores the importance of the post, which oversees sensitive fugitive, witness protection, and investigative programs, and signals that leadership wanted to assure employees and outside partners that the division's work will continue uninterrupted while the inquiry into Marketos' conduct runs its course.^[1]

1. CBS News