Free Speech

Thin-Skinned Government Agents Threaten Yet Another Critic

Politicians who don’t like receiving nastygrams should quit government work.

J.D. Tuccille | 7.1.2026 7:00 AM

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(Illustration: Midjourney)

The Trump administration took office last year promising to reverse the speech-unfriendly policies of the Biden administration, which had pressured social media companies to censor inconvenient stories and ideas. The new White House, we were promised, would "ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen." Efforts to keep that promise aren't going well, as we see from yet another incident of federal agents seeking to intimidate critics of government policies.

You are reading The Rattler from J.D. Tuccille and Reason. Get more of J.D.'s commentary on government overreach and threats to everyday liberty.

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Feds Strong-Arm Critics of the Administration

Last week, two federal agents went to David Streever's home in Rochester, New York, to warn him over a strongly worded email he sent to then-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) interim director Todd Lyons, according to Michelle Breidenbach of the Post-Standard.

As such missives often do, Streever's email evokes the Nazis, telling Lyons: "You are a monstrous human being and will go down in history as America's Reinhard Heydrich, the butcher." It goes on to excoriate him over the protesters killed by federal agents in Minnesota and predicts, "you will torment yourself until your last day on Earth."

The email is harsh.........

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