A Rochester resident is challenging the federal government in court after Homeland Security Investigations agents tracked him across state lines and issued a warning notice alleging he may have violated federal law by sending a critical email to a high-ranking immigration official.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C. on behalf of David Streever, arguing that federal agents and their superiors violated his First Amendment rights when they pursued him over protected speech.
The case centers on a three-paragraph email Streever sent on January 26, 2026 to Todd Lyons, who was then the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Streever wrote the email after federal immigration officers in Minneapolis fatally shot two U.S. citizen observers during an immigration enforcement operation. The message compared Lyons to a Nazi and predicted that Lyons would be tormented by his own conscience.
Five months later, on Monday, June 23, 2026, two HSI agents appeared at Streever's Rochester home. The agents left a document labeled "WARNING NOTICE" and "YOU MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW" with Streever's wife. The notice described federal laws that make it a crime to threaten federal officials and stated that ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility had identified an email to Lyons that may violate federal law. The document requested that Streever "promptly remove and/or discontinue the aforementioned behavior."
At the time of the agents' visit, Streever was traveling with his seven-year-old daughter to a Finnish theme park. When he returned to the United States two days later and checked into a hotel near John F. Kennedy International Airport, federal agents tracked him to that location as well. Hotel staff informed Streever that a Department of Homeland Security agent had come looking for him and left a business card. His wife had not disclosed his hotel location to the agents, raising questions about the surveillance methods employed.
"Like many Americans, I was deeply upset after the shootings in Minnesota and I felt compelled to do something," Streever said in a statement. "Writing an email 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 or descending on my hotel in the dark of night."
The lawsuit names three federal agents who attempted to contact Streever as defendants, along with Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and ICE officials. The complaint argues that the federal agents' actions have caused Streever to self-censor his views and violated First Amendment protections against government retaliation for protected speech.
According to the lawsuit, "Our Constitution does not tolerate such a brazen abuse of authority." The complaint further states that "ICE's issuance of formal 'WARNING NOTICE' documents to critics who engage in protected speech—and its decision to have federal agents deliver those warnings in person—can have only one purpose: to systemically chill ICE's critics and coerce them into silence."
The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that Streever's email was protected by the First Amendment and requests an order barring defendants from taking further actions to coerce, threaten, or retaliate against Streever for his protected speech. The suit also asks the court to declare that the warning notices federal agents are issuing are sufficient to chill free expression protected by the First Amendment.
Adam Steinbaugh, senior attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, questioned the government's timeline in a statement. "If someone is really threatening a government official, you don't wait five months to act on it," Steinbaugh said. "The fact that authorities didn't respond immediately shows that David presented no threat. This pursuit is designed to intimidate lawful speech, pure and simple."
The Department of Homeland Security provided a statement that read, "ICE investigates all credible threats towards its employees and officers, including threats to the ICE Director. As a matter of policy, we do not comment on any ongoing investigations." Neither ICE nor DHS responded to requests for additional comment.
The lawsuit also references a similar incident involving Paigelynne Gonyea, a Syracuse resident who received the same type of warning notice on June 23, 2026 while working as a poll worker during the New York primary election. HSI agents confronted Gonyea about an Instagram post, delivering a warning notice that alleged her social media activity may have violated federal law.
The case represents a significant test of First Amendment protections in the context of criticism directed at federal law enforcement officials. Legal experts note that while threatening government officials is a crime, harsh criticism and political speech directed at public officials receive the highest level of constitutional protection.
Streever and Gonyea are the first two individuals who have publicly disclosed receiving warning notices from Homeland Security agents regarding their online communications. The lawsuit raises questions about whether similar notices have been issued to other critics of federal immigration enforcement and whether such practices constitute a systematic effort to suppress dissent.
