Another New York resident says he was warned by officers after criticizing ICE

A second upstate New York resident said Tuesday that federal officers have served him with a warning about online activity that criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

An attorney representing David Streever, of Rochester, said Streever was on a trip to Finland when two officers showed up to his home last week and presented his wife with a warning notice informing him that an email he sent months earlier was a threat.

Streever sent the email to Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE, in January after an immigration officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good during an anti-ICE demonstration. In the email, Streever called Lyons “a monstrous human being” who “will never know peace.”

The warning to Streever arrived the same week poll worker Paigelynne Gonyea, of Syracuse, said two federal officers visited her at a voting location during New York’s primaries to confront her about a social media post she’d written about the ICE officer who shot Good.

Federal agents also attempted to confront Streever at a hotel in New York City when he returned from Finland, but they were turned away by hotel staff, said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression who is representing Streever.

In the email, Streever told Lyons: “The way you are protecting the obvious execution in Minnesota, even as we see the videos, will lead to your downfall,” according to Steinbaugh. “Even Trump will turn on you before the end, and you will be a sad, despised man who eats himself alive with shame at your own pathetic weakness.”

Representatives for ICE declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

“ICE investigates all credible threats towards its employees and officers, including threats to the ICE Director,” the agency said in a statement.

Steinbaugh argued the email was protected speech.

“A true threat is a serious expression of an intent to commit violence. This email doesn’t even come close,” Steinbaugh said. “It’s political speech, it’s an act of petitioning your government.”

Streever said in a statement: “Like many Americans, I was deeply upset after the shootings in Minnesota and I felt compelled to do something. Writing a letter to the head of ICE seemed like the least I could do to express my sense of outrage. I never dreamed it would lead to a knock on my door by federal officers.”

Streever has not contacted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE, since receiving the warning, and he does not plan to, Steinbaugh said.

Gonyea, the poll worker, believes her warning stemmed from a post she made on social media in January in which she posted a picture of Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot and killed Good. In the post, Gonyea wrote: “I think today is a great day for Jonathan to be indicted.” Gonyea’s post was made after Ross had already been identified by the news media and is still up.

Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shared an image of a different social media post from Gonyea in which she said Gonyea shared Ross’s address. Part of the post was redacted.

Bis said in a statement last week that Gonyea “committed a federal crime by posting the address of an ICE law enforcement officer online” and “if you doxx our officers, we will investigate you, and you will be brought to justice.

A representative for the New York Attorney General’s Office said the office is aware of the two residents’ contacts with federal agents. The representative said the office has been reviewing the interaction between Gonyea and federal agents that took place at the polls.

Free speech advocates have pointed to the incidents as an example of federal law enforcement infringing on privacy and free expression. The First Amendment guarantees the right to criticize government officials, said Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU’s speech, privacy and technology project.

“Nobody should be tracked down at their home or hotel room by federal agents in retribution for sending an email merely expressing frustration and opposition to the government’s actions,” Wessler said. “This is an abuse of power and a gross attempt to chill Americans’ constitutionally protected speech.”