South Portland resident Robert Peck, 67, is suing federal agents under the Federal Tort Claims Act for allegedly violating his First and Fourth amendment rights amid an immigration enforcement surge in January.
The federal suit combines a federal lawsuit Peck initiated in June under the Maine Civil Rights Act and a legal notice of claim that he filed in January. It adds a new party: the United States government.
On Jan. 22, Peck filmed two masked agents approaching his car after Peck said he was safely observing and following them on the road in Scarborough. The agents told Peck that he was violating a law that prevents citizens from forcibly interfering with law enforcement activity, and that they would pull Peck out and arrest him if he continued to follow them.
Peck’s lawyer, David Webbert, said his client was exercising his constitutional right to observe U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents doing their jobs in public.
In the court filing, Webbert argued that the agents incorrectly cited the federal law as an attempt to “chill and punish protected free speech by falsely claiming that this statute makes it a crime for Americans merely to observe the public activities of federal agents.”
With Peck’s case, Webbert said he hopes to set precedent in holding the federal government accountable.
Last week, the ACLU of Maine also filed legal notices of claim on behalf of several people who were arrested, The Portland Press Herald reported. The federal government has six months to respond to the claims or settle before plaintiffs can escalate them to a federal lawsuit, just as Peck has.
Peck’s now-combined lawsuit does not yet name the agents that Peck is suing; they are currently listed as John Doe 1 and 2. Webbert said the federal government has agreed to release the two names of the agents so that they may be served the lawsuit, but the information will be protected by a confidentiality order.
