In early 2025, Atlanta resident Samuel Tunick was on his way home following a trip abroad. After landing in the US, customs agents demanded access to his Pixel phone, which was running an alternative version of Android called GrapheneOS. Rather than hand over his data, Tunick used a clever feature of the software to delete everything. Now, he’s facing federal charges.
The first hearing in this case happened last week, according to The Guardian, during which government attorneys and agents claimed that Tunick was subjected to a standard secondary interrogation at an international airport. During that encounter, agents were “looking for anything that’s prohibited.” However, Tunick’s legal team alleges he was targeted for his activism.
Tunick was involved with a group called Defend the Atlanta Forest, which opposed the construction of an enormous law enforcement training facility in the area often known as Cop City. What Tunick didn’t know, according to his lawyers, was that he’d been placed on a watch list for his actions and that Customs and Border Protection had discussed over email plans to detain him upon his arrival back in the US for “suspected terrorism activities.”
IIRC, they can only charge him with a felony if they can prove there was some sort of illegal data on his phone prior to the wipe. Otherwise they ain’t got shit and I hope this guys lawyer wipes the floor with the idiotic justice dept lawyers.
“You’re guilty because you were hiding something.”
Says people hiding their face and name.
I don’t know if this works from a legal perspective, but it certainly does from a logical perspective.
The border search exception exists so border agents can check for things that are illegal to import and prevent their importation. Erasing all the data on a storage device ensures there is nothing on it that is illegal to import, accomplishing the purported goal of the search.
It sounds like they were on a fishing expedition to find anything incriminating, which has been considered illegal in pretty much every case that’s come up.
You need to be looking for something specific to validate a search/get a warrant
That was true before trump…
I know MY duress PIN, and I’ll fucking use it if I feel I need to. These nazis can’t fucking intimidate me.
I agree, well sort of. You have zero clue what a “Nazi” government is, but I’ll tell you as bad as the US is, it isn’t close to “Nazi” levels. But I will 100% use a duress code to wipe my phone and they can blow me.
You say from your privileged bubble. People are being killed in the streets and thrown into camps and you don’t see the parallels to 1930’s Germany?
Wasn’t it always like that? The only difference now is that they target white people too now.
maybe thats the difference between ‘america as usual’ and ‘the american reich’
I feel like I have some clue what the nazi playbook is and does. There are many parallels between Germany in 1938 and things happening here in 2026.
So pleading the fifth is a felony now?
This is a cut and dry case. They’re accusing Tunick of wiping the phone to hide evidence. But by their own account, that did not happen.
The border patrol agent entered the duress code, he wiped the phone to hide evidence. When he clearly should have confiscated the phone and given it to the tech department to crack like any normal fascist police officer would do.
So, this CBP agent should be tried as a terrorist for hiding evidence. Remember, what matters are not his intentions, but his actions.
His first mistake was going back to the US.
