ICE Under Fire After Agents Warn Woman To Remove Social Media Post Allegedly Naming Officer In Protest Shooting

ICE has come under scrutiny after agents visited a Syracuse poll worker to warn her about a social media post naming an officer involved in a fatal shooting earlier this year. The development comes as ICE faces ongoing public attention over its enforcement activities.

Paigelynne Gonyea received a phone call on Tuesday from two ICE agents while working as a poll worker at the Central Library on Salina Street during New York primary elections. The agents arrived with copies of her Instagram posts and her driver's licence, and handed her a formal warning notice alleging that her account threatened federal agents.

She believes they were referring to a post she made in January naming ICE agent Jonathan Ross and stating that it was a good day for him to be indicted in the death of Renee Good.

ICE Agents Deliver Warning At Polling Place

The officers, one identified as Dave Brody, met Gonyea inside the library after she invited them in, saying she had seen news from Minnesota and did not want to meet alone outside. The notice explained that it is unlawful to threaten to assault, kidnap or murder a federal official or their immediate family with intent to impede their duties. It directed her to remove and discontinue the behaviour and cautioned that she could face prosecution.

Gonyea declined to sign the document. 'They tried to scare me into signing it while I was working,' she said. She has insisted that the agent's name was already in the public domain through news reports and that she provided no private details. Gonyea has since shared video of the meeting and the notice on her Instagram account and reached out to the New York attorney general's office, her local congressman and the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Background To The Shooting Of Renee Good

The January post related to events on 7 January in Minneapolis, where ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a US citizen and mother of three. Federal authorities said Good had been attempting to run over law enforcement officers with her vehicle during protests against an immigration operation.

President Trump said the officer acted in self-defence. Witnesses interviewed by media outlets described Good as becoming spooked and attempting to drive away after agents approached her car. The shooting prompted protests in the city and calls for greater accountability from federal immigration enforcement.

Ross, who has more than a decade of service with ICE and previous experience with Border Patrol, was identified in media reports including by the Minnesota Star Tribune in the days following the shooting. Video of the incident has been analysed by outlets and has fuelled ongoing debate over the circumstances.

Questions Raised Over Conduct And Timing

Election Commissioner Dustin Czarny said he received alerts about the agents at the polling site and went there immediately. He emphasised that election law restricts who may be inside polling places and that law enforcement has no role there absent an emergency. 'There's no role for law enforcement officials to be inside a polling place unless they are responding to an emergency of some kind,' he said. Gonyea described the encounter as feeling 'very 1984'.

The incident has prompted discussion about federal agencies addressing online posts through in-person visits, particularly at election locations. Gonyea has said she will not remove the post.