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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A New York woman says two agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) visited her workplace on Tuesday and warned her to take down an Instagram post that identified the agent who fatally shot Renée Good earlier this year or risk being prosecuted.
Paigelynne Gonyea told a local outlet that she was working at a polling site in Syracuse when agents came to speak with her about the post.
"For ICE to come to me over a social media post just feels very 1984 to me," she told Syracuse.com. "They definitely should have known better to not go into a polling place, even if I said it was OK."
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The incident comes amid a broader public debate over free expression and the policing of online speech. Last year, Vice President JD Vance warned European governments against what he described as the suppression of free speech. More recently, the Trump administration has warned Britain against implementing a social media ban for under-16s, arguing it could restrict freedom of speech.
Newsweek has contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, for comment via email. Gonyea has been contacted for comment via email.
What Happened at the Polling Site?
According to Gonyea, she received a call from a DHS agent while she was working. On Instagram, she shared a voicemail from someone who identified themselves as an agent with DHS and asked to discuss a post where she "doxed an ICE agent."
She told the agents to come into the polling location because she did not want to meet them outside the site alone, she told Syracuse.com.
Gonyea said the agents had a folder with copies of her social media posts and her driver's license, and that they asked her to sign a form saying she may have violated federal law by threatening a federal official though her Instagram account. They also told her to "remove and/or discontinue" the behavior, she said.
"They tried to scare me into signing it while I was working," Gonyea told the outlet, adding that she did not intend to take down the post.
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Gonyea believes the post in question is one she shared on January 8, in which she named the ICE agent who had fatally shot 37-year-old Good in Minneapolis the day before.
"BREAKING: The ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good in broad daylight has been identified as Jonathan Ross by the Minnesota Star Tribune," she wrote in the post. "I think today is a great day for Jonathan to be indicted!"
Good's killing, as well as that of fellow Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti less than three weeks later, stoked nationwide outrage over President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and led to calls for the agents involved to be prosecuted. DHS said both shootings were justified even though video footage appeared to contradict the government's accounts.
On Tuesday, Gonyea shared a video of her encounter with the ICE agents, adding that they had come to talk to her about when she "stupidly doxxed" Ross. But she told Syracuse.com she did not believe her actions met that definition of doxing since his name had been reported by news outlets and she did not include any personal information about Ross in her post.
Doxing, sometimes written as doxxing, is typically a malicious practice that involves gathering private or identifying information and releasing it online without the subject's permission, usually in an attempt to harass, threaten, shame or exact revenge.
What Did the ICE Form Say?
Gonyea shared a photo on Instagram of the document she said the agents asked her to sign—a request she said she declined.
According to the form in the photo she posted, ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) had "identified an Instagram post handle 'TURNDAPAIGE OFFICIAL' which it has reason to believe may constitute a violation" of federal law.
"Accordingly, OPR is requesting that you promptly remove and/or discontinue the aforementioned behavior," it continued.
As seen in the post, the form also said: "This Notice officially informs you that it is unlawful to threaten to assault, kidnap, and/or murder a federal official or that federal official's immediate family member with the intent to impede, intimidate, and/or interfere with the federal official's duties or retaliate against a federal official due to the performance of their duties."
It added: "You are further advised that knowingly making restricted personal information about a covered person, or their immediate family member, publicly available with the intent to threaten, intimidate, or incite the commission of a crime of violence against that person; or with the intent and knowledge that the restricted personal information will be used to threaten, or intimidate, or facilitate the commission of a crime of violence against that person violates federal law."
It went on to say that violations of these or related laws could subject Gonyea to both federal and state prosecution.
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Free Speech Advocate Speaks Out
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) decried the incident, noting that Ross' name had been widely reported by news outlets at the time Gonyea made the post.
"A free America doesn't dispatch federal law enforcement agents to intimidate someone for an Instagram post of publicly available information," FIRE senior attorney Adam Steinbaugh said in a statement.
"Free speech is the bedrock of a free society, and the First Amendment squarely prohibits ICE agents from intimidating Americans for nothing more than repeating information from a newspaper report," he continued. "As we approach the 250th anniversary of our independence from England, where police now hassle residents over social media posts, let's not follow their lead."
Gonyea has since launched a GoFundMe page seeking donations to help hire an attorney.
"The whole situation raises a lot of questions about free speech, government overreach, and how election workers are treated while they're doing their jobs," she wrote on the website.
Gonyea added: "At this point, I'm trying to figure out what my options are, so I'm looking for a civil rights attorney who can help me understand what steps I should take next."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Cannon and Shakeema Edwards.
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