New York Residents Were Contacted By Federal Agents After Criticizing ICE

David Streever said he wanted to express his outrage over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s response to a fatal officer-involved shooting in Minnesota. Months later, the Upstate New York resident said that decision resulted in federal agents showing up at his home.

The encounter has drawn attention because it comes the same day another New York resident publicly alleged federal officers contacted her after she criticized ICE online, prompting ongoing debate over where law enforcement investigations end and First Amendment protections begin.

Details on why federal officers visited David Streever’s home

Streever’s attorney said two federal officers went to his Rochester home last week while he was traveling in Finland with his 7-year-old daughter. The officers gave Streever’s wife, the Rev. Hilary Streever, 43, a warning notice stating that an email he sent to then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons was considered a threat, according to ABC News and NPR.

Streever, 45, sent the email in January after an ICE officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good during an anti-ICE demonstration. In the message, he sharply criticized Lyons, calling him a “monstrous human being” who “will never know peace,” per ABC News.

After Streever returned from Finland, federal agents also attempted to contact him at a New York City hotel but were turned away by hotel staff, said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, which is representing him.

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,” ABC News reported.

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

Is Streever’s email protected under free speech?

Steinbaugh argued that Streever’s email did not constitute a true threat and instead amounted to constitutionally protected political speech.

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

Streever said he never expected that sending the email would lead to visits from federal agents.

“Like many Americans, I was deeply upset after the shootings in Minnesota, and I felt compelled to do something,” he said in a statement obtained by NPR. “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.”

Steinbaugh said Streever has not contacted the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, since receiving the warning and does not intend to do so.

Another New York resident was also visited by federal agents over a social media post

Streever’s case follows another involving Paigelynne Gonyea, a Syracuse poll worker who said federal officers confronted her on June 23 at a polling place during New York’s primary election over social media posts she made about Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who fatally shot Good.

Gonyea said officers questioned her about a January post in which she shared a photo of Ross and wrote that it was “a great day” for him to be indicted.

The Department of Homeland Security has disputed Gonyea’s account. A department spokesperson said she posted Ross’ home address online, an allegation Gonyea has denied. DHS said anyone who publishes the personal information of its officers will be investigated.

After reading about Gonyea’s experience, Streever contacted her on Facebook. As they compared notes, they realized the same two HSI agents who confronted Gonyea earlier that day had also visited Streever’s home, per NPR.

A spokesperson for the New York attorney general’s office said the office is aware of both incidents and is reviewing the interaction between Gonyea and federal agents at the polling location.