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Federal Agents Warn Two New Yorkers Over Criticism of ICE

Civil-rights groups and state officials say the contacts could chill political speech because agencies say they were probing alleged threats and doxxing.

Overview

  • A Rochester resident, David Streever, says federal officers left a warning at his home last week over an email he sent in January to then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons and later tried to confront him at a New York City hotel.
  • Syracuse poll worker Paigelynne Gonyea says two federal officers questioned her at a polling site during New York’s primary about a social media post concerning the ICE officer who killed Renee Good.
  • ICE and the Department of Homeland Security say they investigate credible threats to employees and alleged doxxing of officers and that those concerns prompted the contacts.
  • No criminal charges or completed internal findings have been made public and the government has not explained in detail why Streever’s January email was treated as a threat, prompting reviews by New York’s attorney general and civil liberties groups.
  • The episodes stem from public outrage after the January death of Renee Good and raise two wider issues to watch: whether law enforcement is treating sharp political criticism as a threat and whether officers followed legal limits on presence at polling places.