Robert "Bob" Peck, of South Portland, is suing the U.S. government, claiming that two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights while he recorded their activities during a surge in ICE enforcement across Maine in January.
On January 22, Peck was observing federal agents from a safe distance near a Scarborough field office when two masked agents approached his car window, accused him of illegally impeding federal law enforcement, and warned him that continuing to follow them could result in arrest. Peck says he had done nothing to give agents reasonable suspicion that he'd broken any law — he was simply exercising his right to observe the public actions of government officials.
After the encounter, Peck filed a notice of claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and, while waiting out the required six-month period, filed a civil complaint in June under the Maine Civil Rights Act — the first time a Maine legal observer has sued ICE officers under that law, according to attorney David Webbert. Once the FTCA waiting period passed, Peck's suit was amended to add the U.S. government itself as a defendant, making it the first FTCA suit filed over the actions of federal agents against legal observers during Maine's January ICE surge.
"This is a national issue that we just happened to get on camera," Webbert said. The government now has 60 days to respond to the suit, and a jury will ultimately decide whether — and how much — Peck should be compensated.
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