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ICE visits after email
David Streever, a Rochester, N.Y. resident, sued the Department of Homeland Security after two federal officers visited his Rochester home on June 23 with a written warning notice over a January 26 email he sent to Todd M. Lyons, then acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Rochester man sues ICE on free speech grounds over critical email sent to its former head Rochester, N”
The email, which had the subject line "What's next," compared Lyons to a Nazi official and told him, "You will never know peace," while the lawsuit says the agents’ actions violated Streever’s First Amendment rights.
CNN reported that five months after the email, Streever received a knock on his door and a visit by two federal officers who warned he may have threatened Lyons, and that the warning told him he "MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW."
The case is tied to the January immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis, where Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal officers two days before Streever sent the email, and where the email referenced killings of U.S. citizens including Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
DHS spokespersons defended the approach by saying ICE "investigates all credible threats towards its employees and officers, including threats to the ICE Director," and added that the agency would not comment on ongoing investigations.
Speech vs intimidation
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, representing Streever, argued that the First Amendment "unquestionably protects Streever’s criticism" and said the federal officers "went to extraordinary lengths to confront and intimidate him."
In the lawsuit coverage, Adam Steinbaugh said Streever’s email "was in the context of political speech," and he argued that "That shouldn't mean that the federal agents are going to knock on your door and give you a written warning about your speech."
The Department of Homeland Security rejected the free-speech claim, with Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s office saying any allegation that DHS is trying to "squash" free speech is "categorically FALSE," and warning that "anyone who assaults or threatens our law enforcement officers will face the consequences."
USA Today described Streever’s account that agents knocked on his door in June while he was traveling in Finland with his 7-year-old daughter, and that after he returned he checked into a New York City hotel where officers tracked him down.
NPR reported that the warning notice was labeled "WARNING NOTICE" and told Streever that he may have violated federal law, and that the notice said ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility was requesting he "promptly … remove and/or discontinue" the behavior.
Broader enforcement debate
The Streever lawsuit is presented as part of a broader debate over Trump’s immigration enforcement, with CNN describing it as pitting free-speech arguments against claims by federal law enforcement that their officers are being threatened.
“Two days after Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal officers during the January immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis, David Streever was distraught”
CNN reported that Streever was one of at least two people in New York sought by the same officers, and that in Syracuse, Paigelynn Gonyea was given a similar warning letter after officers entered the polling location where she was working during primary elections on June 23.
The Associated Press reporting cited by CNN said Gonyea told the Associated Press the visit stemmed from a social media post in January that named Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who fatally shot Good on January 7.
USA Today added that DHS defended its actions in Gonyea’s case on social media, including a post on X stating, "Doxxing federal law enforcement officers is a federal crime that puts their lives and their families in serious danger."
NPR said the lawsuit asks the court to bar defendants "from taking any further actions, formal or informal, to coerce, threaten, retaliate against, or intimate repercussions" to Streever for protected speech and petitioning activity.
