When ICE agents terrorized Maine, our client, Robert Peck, exercised his First Amendment rights to observe them
When masked and armed federal agents poured into Portland, Maine as part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) “Operation Catch of the Day,” 67-year-old Robert Peck was one of many residents that took to the streets to watch, observe and record these agents.
A retired VA mental health counselor, Peck was at home in South Portland when he heard whistles and car horns, which indicated that ICE was outside the Mexican restaurant across the street. When the agents left, Peck followed their unmarked SUV in his own car to see what they were doing in his community and to document if they violated anyone’s rights. He was careful to keep a safe distance the whole time, leaving at least one car between himself and the agents. When they sped through red lights, he stopped and waited. After losing sight of the agents, he saw another ICE vehicle and began to follow it to observe their activity, too.
Mr. Peck was stopped and intimidated by ICE agents
When their vehicle pulled over on a quiet road, he parked at a safe distance to observe. Two agents, Defendants Christopher Semler and Nicholas Lapointe, got out and walked to his car. They wore masks, tactical vests marked “POLICE,” and handguns. They motioned him to lower his window. Lapointe told him that following them was “impeding federal law enforcement,” a felony under federal law, and that he would be arrested if he did it again.
Semler warned him: “That’s your one warning, if you keep doing it, we’ll pull you back out and arrest you.” Lapointe repeatedly rested his hand on Peck’s car door, leaning in towards the window and making Mr. Peck feel he could not leave. Just two weeks earlier, an ICE agent in Minneapolis had shot and killed Renee Good, a neighborhood observer, in her car.
The law the agents invoked — 18 U.S.C. § 111 — makes it a crime to forcibly assault or impede a federal officer. Watching from a distance is not a crime. The encounter left Peck shaking so badly he couldn’t operate his phone. He stopped observing ICE altogether. He still lives with anxiety, insomnia, and physical symptoms whenever he passes the places where it happened. Some family and friends have asked him not to visit, for fear ICE will follow him to their homes.
We filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit seeking to use a Maine law to hold federal officials liable for violating the First Amendment
Peck filed a lawsuit against Semler, Lapointe, and the U.S. government. It is the first case against the U.S. government based on the actions of ICE during “Operation Catch of the Day” in Maine, and it goes even further by seeking to hold Semler and Lapointe individually liable for their unconstitutional actions. That’s usually difficult or impossible to do with federal agents, but the case seeks to use the Maine Civil Rights Act, which allows people to sue when their constitutional rights have been violated by anyone, to uphold the fundamental First Amendment right to peacefully observe the public actions of government agents. If successful, it will be one of the first cases in the nation to use state law to hold federal officials accountable for violating the Constitution.
The lawsuit seeks damages, a declaration that the agents violated Mr. Peck’s First and Fourth Amendment rights, an order barring further retaliation against him, and training for the agents on what federal law actually prohibits.
Our lawsuit asks if federal agents can be held accountable under state civil rights law
The Maine Civil Rights Act lets people sue anyone who interferes with their constitutional rights. Congress expressly preserved lawsuits against federal employees for constitutional violations. This case asks courts to confirm that federal agents are not above state law that enforces the Constitution.
The lawsuit has already unmasked the agents who accosted Robert Peck
The agents who detained and threatened Mr. Peck did not identify themselves, and he was not able to find out any information about their identities before filing suit, so he named them as “John Does” in the complaint. As a result of Public Justice’s work, the government was forced to identify them as Lapointe and Semler.
What’s next?
On Oct. 9, 2026, the U.S. government filed motions arguing that we cannot bring individual claims under the Maine Civil Rights Act against Lapointe and Semler and that the claims against the U.S. government should also be dismissed. We will be filing responses to those motions.