A New York resident, David Streever, is suing the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after officers visited his home to serve him with a warning notice. The notice was in response to an email Streever sent to the acting director of ICE, criticizing the agency’s tactics in immigration raids.

First Amendment Rights

Streever’s email, sent in January, expressed his outrage over the shooting of a U.S. citizen by an ICE agent during an immigration raid in Minneapolis. The email told the acting director that he was a ‘monstrous human being’ who would ‘go down in history as America’s Reinhard Heydrich, the butcher.’ Streever’s attorney, Adam Steinbaugh, argues that the email was protected speech under the First Amendment and does not represent a legitimate threat.

When officers arrived at Streever’s home, his wife answered the door and was handed a warning notice explaining that her husband ‘may be in violation of federal law’ for sending the email. The notice urged Streever to ‘promptly remove and/or discontinue’ his ‘behavior,’ warning that the notice would be ‘taken into consideration’ if he continued to be involved in ‘criminal activities.’

Intimidation of Free Speech

Streever’s lawsuit claims that the visit from ICE officers was an attempt to intimidate him and chill his free speech. Steinbaugh stated, ‘If someone is really threatening a government official, you don’t wait five months to act on it.’ The lawsuit asks the court to order DHS and ICE officials to stop their ‘coercion and retaliation’ against Streever for his protected speech.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.