A New York man is suing the Department of Homeland Security, alleging federal agents violated his First Amendment rights by tracking him down and warning him over an email criticizing the former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
David Streever of Rochester, New York, filed the lawsuit Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., with the nonprofit organization Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The complaint argued that the DHS launched an investigation and intimidated him over constitutionally protected political speech.
According to the lawsuit, Streever sent a three-paragraph email to then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons after a controversial ICE operation in Minnesota that sparked national outrage when officers shot and killed two people. In the email, Streever compared Lyons to Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich, calling him “a monstrous human being” and predicting that history would judge him harshly.
“You will never know peace,” Streever wrote. “You will torment yourself until your last day on Earth.”
The lawsuit said the email contained no threat of violence and was protected by the First Amendment.
“An objectively reasonable person would not understand Streever’s email as a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence, nor did Streever consciously disregard a substantial risk that his email would be viewed as a threat of violence or intend that his email would be viewed as a threat of violence,” the complaint read.
Instead, the complaint alleged DHS agents tracked Streever to his home and later to a hotel, repeatedly called him, monitored his travel, and ultimately served him with a “Warning Notice” informing him that threatening, kidnapping, or murdering a federal official violates federal law.
The notice cited federal statutes prohibiting threats against government officials and warned that receipt of the notice would be taken into consideration should Streever “continue to be involved in any criminal activities described above.”
FIRE argued the warning improperly equated protected criticism with criminal threats.
“The First Amendment freedom to speak out in opposition to police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state,” the complaint states, quoting the Supreme Court’s 1987 decision in Houston v. Hill. “Our Constitution does not tolerate such a brazen abuse of authority.”
DHS rejected the allegations in the lawsuit and didn’t directly comment on it.
“Any allegation DHS and its components are attempting to ‘squash’ free speech is categorically FALSE,” said a DHS statement Monday. “ICE investigates all credible threats towards its employees and officers, including threats to the ICE Director. As a matter of policy, we do not comment on any ongoing investigations. Our law enforcement officers are on the frontlines arresting terrorists, gang members, murderers, child sex abusers, and rapists. They are experiencing coordinated campaigns of violence against them and facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, a 3,300% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats.”
“ANYONE who assaults or threatens our law enforcement officers will face the consequences,” it continued.
The lawsuit alleged the investigation has left Streever and his family fearful of further retaliation, saying the visits, phone calls, apparent surveillance, and accusations that his email constituted a threat caused “anxiety and distress” and dispelled his willingness to criticize ICE and DHS in the future.
“Streever has self-censored some speech on social media, including to friends and others online, out of concern that a remark may be misconstrued or trigger continued harassment by federal agents,” the lawsuit alleged.
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The complaint also pointed to a June 27 post from the DHS’s X account that warned people who “doxx” ICE officers would “face the consequences.” FIRE argued the post demonstrates a broader effort by the department to discourage criticism of immigration enforcement, even though Streever did not publish any officer’s personal information.
The lawsuit asked the court to declare the DHS’s actions unconstitutional and prevent the department from taking similar action against protected political speech in the future.