Lawsuit Challenges DHS Over “Warning Notices” Sent to Critics

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., on Monday, alleging that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violated the First Amendment by tracking down and retaliating against speakers like David Streever for criticizing federal law enforcement. The litigation stems from incidents involving David Streever of Rochester, N.Y., and Paigelynne Gonyea of Syracuse, N.Y., both of whom received “Warning Notices” from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents regarding their online speech.

Why is the government issuing “Warning Notices” to private citizens?

According to the lawsuit, federal agents issued the notices to individuals whose online communications were deemed potentially threatening toward federal officials. In the case of David Streever, HSI agents visited his home on June 23 and tracked him to a hotel in New York City after he sent an email to the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Todd Lyons. Streever’s January 26 email, sent following the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizen observers by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, compared Lyons to a Nazi and predicted that Lyons would be tormented by his own conscience.

The notice delivered to Streever stated that ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility had identified his email as a potential violation of federal laws prohibiting threats against federal officials. The document warned that “Receipt of this Notice will be taken into consideration, should you continue to be involved in any criminal activities described above.” Adam Steinbaugh, senior attorney at FIRE, argued that the five-month delay between the email and the agents’ visit undermines the government’s investigation, characterizing the pursuit as designed to “intimidate lawful speech, pure and simple.”

How did the encounter with Paigelynne Gonyea unfold?

On the same day agents visited Streever, HSI officers confronted Paigelynne Gonyea while she was working at a polling place during the New York primary election. Agents left a voicemail claiming she had “doxxed” an ICE agent in a January Instagram post. Despite local election officials noting that federal immigration officers are barred from voting sites by a recently enacted New York law, agents entered the library where Gonyea was working to deliver a warning notice.

DHS stated to the Associated Press that Gonyea “committed a federal crime by posting the address of an ICE law enforcement officer online.” However, Gonyea denied creating the post in question, telling NPR she had no independent recollection of ever creating or publishing it. FIRE maintains that a social media post that shares a person’s address alone is not a criminal offense unless it is shared with the intent to convey a threat, and argues that such posts were part of a broader public debate regarding the conduct of immigration officers.

What are the legal arguments in the FIRE lawsuit?

The lawsuit names Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, several ICE officials, and three federal agents who tried to contact Streever as defendants. The complaint argues that the government’s actions constitute a “brazen abuse of authority” designed to chill dissent. By delivering formal warnings in person, the suit alleges that DHS is coercing critics into silence, violating the constitutional protection of free speech.

The plaintiffs are asking the federal court to:

• Declare that Streever’s email was protected speech under the First Amendment.
• Prohibit the defendants from taking further action to coerce, threaten, retaliate against, or intimate repercussions directly or indirectly to Streever for his protected speech and petitioning activity.
• Rule that the “Warning Notice” documents themselves are “sufficient” to chill free expression.

In response to inquiries, DHS maintained its policy of not commenting on ongoing investigations, stating only that “ICE investigates all credible threats towards its employees and officers, including threats to the ICE Director.” The agency has not provided evidence to support the criminal allegations against Gonyea.