Judge blocks DHS from threatening man over critical ICE email

A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from threatening a man for sending a highly critical email to a former agency official.

David Streever, a resident of Rochester, New York, sent a scathing email to then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons following the fatal shooting of two individuals in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers. In the email, Streever compared Lyons to a Nazi official and stated that Lyons would be “tormented” by his conscience.

Five months after the email was sent, ICE agents served Streever with a warning notice at his home, warning that his communication could be interpreted as a criminal threat of violence and that continued behavior could lead to federal prosecution. Streever, represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), filed a lawsuit alleging the agency violated his First Amendment rights. The judge ruled that the government cannot use the threat of prosecution to chill protected political speech and moral condemnation.