Federal Officers Warn 2nd New York Resident Over January Anti-ICE Email
Updated
Updated · abcnews.com · Jul 1
Federal Officers Warn 2nd New York Resident Over January Anti-ICE Email
3 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · Jul 1
Summary
David Streever of Rochester said federal officers delivered a warning to his home last week, saying a January email to then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons was a threat; agents later tried to confront him at a New York City hotel.
The email followed the fatal shooting of Minneapolis protester Renee Good by an ICE officer and told Lyons he was “a monstrous human being” who “will never know peace,” language Streever’s lawyer says was protected political speech.
The warning came the same week Syracuse poll worker Paigelynne Gonyea said officers approached her at a primary voting site over posts about the same shooting; DHS has said she posted an officer’s address and may have committed a federal crime.
ICE declined to discuss Streever’s case, citing an ongoing investigation, but said it investigates all credible threats to employees; New York’s attorney general is reviewing the poll-site encounter, while ACLU and FIRE called both incidents a chilling abuse of free-speech rights.
Where is the line between protected online criticism and a criminal threat against federal officers?
Do federal actions against online critics reflect historical patterns of suppressing American dissent?
June 2026 Federal Actions Against Online Speech: Gonyea, ICE, and the Erosion of First Amendment Protections
Overview
In June 2026, federal officers served a warning to Paigelynne Gonyea after she posted publicly available information on Instagram. This confrontation happened while Gonyea was working at a polling place, raising concerns among civil liberties advocates about the intimidating presence of federal agents in such a sensitive location. Legal experts, including those from FIRE, strongly criticized the federal action, arguing that targeting individuals for online speech—especially when sharing public information—threatens free expression. The incident highlights growing fears of government overreach and the chilling effect such actions can have on both voters and public discourse.