A Tuesday court ruling means David Streever of Rochester, New York no longer has to worry that federal officers may threaten him over a harsh email he sent to the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this year.
Streever filed a lawsuit in July arguing ICE agents had violated his First Amendment rights when they tried to track him down at his home, an airport and a hotel to confront him about the email and serve him with a warning notice that said he may have violated the law.
Streever's email compared ICE's former acting director, Todd Lyons, to a Nazi, called him a "monstrous human being" and predicted he would be tormented by his own conscience. Streever told NPR he sent the email after federal immigration officers fatally shot two observers in Minneapolis in January.
The warning notice agents left at Streever's home said "YOU MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW" and lists federal laws that make it a crime to threaten federal officials. "Receipt of this Notice will be taken into consideration, should you continue to be involved in any criminal activities described above," reads the bottom of the form.
Streever, who is represented by the nonprofit free speech group, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), argued the federal agents' actions violated the First Amendment and caused him to self-censor his views.
"Mr. Streever's injury is the loss of his freedom to engage in political speech now because the threat of such an investigation or prosecution looms over him like the sword of Damocles, and he is forced to self-censor under that threat," Contreras wrote in his ruling.
He wrote that because it was likely the federal government had already infringed on Streever's First Amendment rights, he was issuing a preliminary injunction while the case continued so that Streever could continue to speak freely.
The court order blocks DHS and ICE from, "taking further steps in reliance on the Warning Notice…and from issuing any substantially similar threats to [Streever] aimed at his protected expression during the course of this matter."
In a statement, Streever said, "I'm deeply relieved that the court affirmed what I knew all along: that I am permitted to speak my conscience in the United States of America, including when I criticize government officials."
He added, "While I wish this ordeal hadn't happened, hopefully this incident will serve as a reminder that the First Amendment protects us all."
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In court filings, DHS defended its investigation of Streever by citing an increase in threats of violence against public officials. The federal government had argued Streever's case should be dismissed and had said the investigation into Streever was closed in late June, before he filed his lawsuit.
The federal government's filing did not assert that Streever's email was a violent threat that could be prosecuted.
In his ruling, Contreras asked the government to turn over the report that closed its investigation of Streever.
"ICE knowingly pursued an American citizen for criticizing his government — speech that is at the heart of the First Amendment," said FIRE Senior Attorney Adam Steinbaugh. "Ominous letters warning people their speech might land them in prison are meant to coerce people into silence, and that's not how the First Amendment works."
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