Federal Judge Reminds ICE That Insults Aren't Crimes
Censorship blocking · 16.09.2026

A federal judge this week explained a basic thing to ICE: calling an official a "monstrous person" in a letter is not a crime — it's protected speech. It took a preliminary injunction to make that point land.

Here's the story. In January, David Streuver sent acting ICE Director Todd Lyons an angry three-paragraph letter. The trigger was the killing of two anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota — Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Streuver compared Lyons to Reinhard Heydrich, called him a butcher, and predicted he'd be tormented by his conscience for the rest of his life. Harsh, sure, but it's a value judgment about an official's actions, not a threat to harm anyone.

ICE initially just ignored the letter. Then, five months later, it suddenly remembered and showed up at Streuver's home with an official warning: your correspondence, they said, could amount to a criminal threat of violence. Notices like this are usually issued for threats of murder, kidnapping, or assault — but the agency decided that moral condemnation of leadership fit the same category. It demanded he stop criticizing ICE leadership, or else face charges — state or federal, take your pick.

One extra detail: Streuver wasn't home when the agents came, so they tracked him down at a hotel. FIRE lawyers representing him call this "deeply troubling" — and it's no surprise that after a visit like that, a person starts self-censoring just to avoid drawing further attention.

Bottom line: a letter containing emotional criticism of a government official was treated by ICE as a criminal threat, its author was tracked down to a hotel, and he was pressured into silence — until a court said that's not how this works. A good illustration of how the chilling effect operates: you don't need to jail someone for their words, a knock on the door is enough.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/its-ok-to-tell-ice-their-actions-will-haunt-them-judge-rules-in-speech-fight/