Who is David Stryver? Rochester man files lawsuit against Homeland Security after ICE visited his home via email
Two days after Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal officers during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis in January. David Stryver Deeply disturbed. He sent a three-paragraph email criticizing then-acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons.ice).
Five months later, two federal officials came to Striver’s home and warned him that his emails might have threatened Lyons.
according to CNNThe visit led to Striver filing a lawsuit against several Homeland Security officials on Monday. The officers “relentless efforts were made to confront and intimidate him,” according to the lawsuit.
Who is David Stryver?
David Stryver is a resident of Rochester, New YorkMarried with a 7-year-old daughter. He became one of the first two people, along with Paigelynne Gonyea of Syracuse University, to publicly disclose that they had received warning notices via online communications from Department of Homeland Security agents. NPR.
On Jan. 26, days after Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal officers during an immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis, Striver sent a three-paragraph email to then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons.
In the email, titled “What’s Next,” Striver compared Lyons to a Nazi official and wrote that his conscience would haunt him as he defended the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
Five months later, on June 23, two federal officials showed up at his Rochester home with a written warning while he was away on vacation with his daughter.
Striver has now filed a lawsuit against DHS officials, represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, arguing that his emails were protected by the First Amendment.
“Like many Americans, I was deeply disturbed by the shootings in Minnesota and felt compelled to do something,” Striver said in a statement, according to NPR. “Writing an email to the head of ICE seemed like the least I could do to express my outrage. I never dreamed that this would result in federal officers knocking on my door or descending on my hotel in the dark of night.”
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what striver wrote
Attorneys for the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which represents Striver, said in a statement that “the First Amendment undoubtedly protects Striver’s criticism.”
In a January 26 email to Lyon, Striver compared him to a Nazi official and warned that his conscience would trouble him if he continued to defend the actions of police officers who killed two American citizens in Minneapolis, CNN reported.
“You never know peace,” Stryver wrote in an email to Lyons, with the subject line “What Comes Next.”
“You will try to lose yourself and escape the burden of knowing the truth about yourself,” he writes. “But you will find yourself wherever you go. You will torture yourself until your last day on earth.”
Then, on June 23, two federal officers showed up in Stryver’s Rochester, New York He returned home with a written notice warning him not to threaten federal officials. The notice told Striver that he “may have violated federal law,” NPR reported.
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litigation
The nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Monday. The lawsuit names three federal agents, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE officials as defendants. It argued that Striver’s emails were protected by the First Amendment and that federal agents violated his free speech rights.
“Our Constitution does not tolerate this blatant abuse of power,” the lawsuit states.
FIRE senior attorney Adam Steinbaugh said the five-month delay in officials taking action on the emails raised questions about the investigation itself. “If someone was really threatening a government official, you wouldn’t wait five months before taking action,” Stambaugh said, according to NPR.
“The fact that authorities did not respond immediately indicates that David posed no threat. This pursuit was purely intended to intimidate legitimate speech.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE is “investigating all credible threats against its employees and officers, including threats against ICE supervisors,” CNN reported, adding, “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on any ongoing investigations.”
