The US government is prosecuting American citizen Sam Tunick for wiping his phone with a "duress password" when agents tried to seize it at the Atlanta airport on January 24, 2025. His lawyers argue the seizure was an unlawful pretext to investigate his ties to the Stop Cop City movement and that his rights were violated. The government counters that no warrant was needed, highlighting growing tensions over digital privacy at the US border.
Border phone seizure incident
- ▪Agents attempted to seize Sam Tunick's phone while questioning him about alleged child exploitation images
- ▪Federal agents detained US citizen Sam Tunick at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport on January 24th, 2025
Duress password prosecution
- ▪The prosecution is based on a rarely-used statute that prohibits destroying property to prevent its seizure by authorities
- ▪Sam Tunick allegedly used a feature of the privacy-focused GrapheneOS to wipe his phone
- ▪The US government is prosecuting Sam Tunick for allegedly providing a "duress password" that wiped his phone during a border seizure
Constitutional rights violations alleged
- ▪Sam Tunick's lawyers argue the detention and phone seizure were unlawful and that all evidence should be dismissed
- ▪A motion by Sam Tunick's lawyers claims the investigation was a "pretext for a fishing expedition" into his connections with Atlanta's Stop Cop City movement
- ▪The defense alleges that agents denied Sam Tunick access to a lawyer, did not present a warrant, and failed to inform him of his legal rights
Border search legal framework
- ▪Under the Trump administration, US citizens can face hours-long detentions and scrutiny of their social media accounts when entering the country
- ▪The government argues a warrant was not required for the phone seizure because Sam Tunick had not yet been granted official entry into the US
Digital privacy under Trump administration
- ▪Marlon Kautz of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund stated people have a right to secure private data against unconstitutional searches, especially during "rising authoritarianism."
- ▪According to the source, many agree that the only way to protect personal data at the US border is to delete it
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