2 min read A South Portland man has officially sued two named Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, alleging they violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights while he recorded their activities during a surge in ICE activity in Maine in January. Deportation officers Nicholas Lapointe and Christopher Semler have until Oct. 16 to respond to the claims. If a jury finds them guilty, they could be responsible for paying damages to Robert Peck, the plaintiff, in a suit that David Webbert, Peck’s lawyer, said marked the first time a Maine legal observer has sued ICE officers under the state’s civil rights act. “It’s big accountability to have the names in the public,” Webbert said. “You can’t hide forever.” Spokespeople for Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for background information and records pertaining to the two agents. A man who answered the phone at a residence listed for Semler in Hartford hung up on a Press Herald reporter’s call. The two were identified as the agents who approached Peck’s car while he was parked on Route 1 after he followed the officers from a field office in Scarborough on Jan. 22. One of the officers told him that “what you’re doing is called impeding federal law enforcement,” and later said, “if you continue to impede us and follow us, you will be arrested,” according to the suit. An officer told Peck that he was violating a federal statute that makes it illegal to forcibly impede, resist or intimidate designated federal officers while they’re performing official duties. Peck filed the initial notice of claim to file a lawsuit against the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for the actions of these agents eight days after they came to his car window and threatened to arrest and harm him. He had to wait six months after notifying before filing the suit to give the U.S. government time to respond, the usual protocol in cases filed under the FTCA. In the meantime, Peck filed a civil complaint in June under the state’s civil rights act, accusing the two then-unidentified federal immigration agents of violating his First Amendment right to peacefully observe public actions of government officials, as well as his Fourth Amendment right to be free from illegal search and seizure. Peck added the U.S. government as a defendant as soon as he could, and Webbert kept pressing the federal government to release the names of these agents. The suit alleges that following and observing a vehicle from a safe distance does not constitute interference and requests that the officers receive training to understand the scope of this statute. Webbert thinks that this case could set a precedent of legal accountability for law enforcement tactics. Dana Richie is a community reporter covering South Portland and Cape Elizabeth. Originally from Atlanta, she fell in love with the landscape and quirks of coastal New England while completing her undergraduate... More by Dana Richie Post navigation