Maine man sues U.S. government over immigration agent confrontation

A South Portland, Maine man is suing the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging immigration agents violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights during an enforcement operation in January. Robert Peck, 67, said he was filming and following two masked agents in Scarborough when they approached his car and threatened to pull him out and arrest him if he continued.

The new federal suit combines a Maine Civil Rights Act lawsuit Peck filed in June with a legal notice of claim from January, and adds the U.S. government as a defendant. Peck's attorney, David Webbert, said the agents wrongly invoked a law barring interference with law enforcement to stop Peck from lawfully observing their public activities, calling it an attempt to chill protected speech.

The agents are currently named as John Doe defendants, though Webbert said the government has agreed to release their identities so they can be served, with that information protected under a confidentiality order. Webbert said he hopes the case sets precedent for holding the federal government accountable.

The lawsuit follows similar legal notices of claim filed last week by the ACLU of Maine on behalf of several other people arrested during immigration enforcement actions. The federal government has six months to respond or settle those claims before they can be escalated into federal lawsuits.

Read the full story at yahoo.com.