#copcity

…Tunick’s lawyers argued during the hearing last week that the seizure was unlawful, & that he was targeted because of his #political #activism against #Atlanta’s plan to build a police & fire training center within a 1,000-acre stretch of urban #woodland. Opponents argue that the center, known as #CopCity, would militarize officers & destroy precious #GreenSpace. #law #InfoSec #privacy

#Activist charged with felony after giving border agent #DuressCode that wiped his phone The government says destroying his own data during an airport interrogation was illegal. Ryan Whitwam – Jul 27, 2026 "In early 2025, Atlanta resident #SamuelTunick 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 #DefendTheAtlanta Forest, which opposed the construction of an enormous law enforcement training facility in the area often known as #CopCity. 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.' "During the interrogation, #CBP agents told Tunick they wanted to search his phone for evidence of child sexual abuse, and if he didn’t unlock the device, it would be confiscated. The government has long asserted broad authority to examine and seize electronic devices at the border for virtually any reason. Tunick claims he was never read his rights and requested legal counsel several times, but the requests were denied." Read more: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/activist-charged-with-felony-after-giving-border-agent-duress-code-that-wiped-his-phone/ #Fascism #DefundCBP #DefundICE #HomelandInsecurity #USPol #SilencingDissent #StopCopCity #StopCopCitiesEverywhere #DefendTheForest

The U.S. Justice Department is prosecuting an American for allegedly providing U.S. border authorities with a passcode that wiped the contents of his phone, according to an indictment and media reports.  This is thought to be the first known case in the United States where federal prosecutors have charged someone for the alleged destruction of data using a “duress” password built into a phone’s software. According to The Guardian, which covered the story earlier this week following the court’s first hearing on Monday, Atlanta resident Samuel Tunick is fighting the charges. Tunick’s attorneys said that it was unlawful for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to seize his phone as he arrived back in the U.S. last year and that any evidence — including the alleged wiping of his phone — should be thrown out. The case centers on a feature included in GrapheneOS, a custom Android operating system that runs in place of the software on most modern Google Pixel devices. Tunick’s attorneys confirmed GrapheneOS was running on his phone. The software feature allows the device owner to set a passcode that deliberately wipes the contents of that device if entered instead of the user’s unlock passcode. Tunick’s case also raises ongoing questions about what constitutional rights can be invoked at the border, which the U.S. government has long asserted is not U.S. soil until a person is authorized to enter. The government’s indictment, which contains a typo (“Untied States Code”), accuses Tunick of allegedly providing a passcode to border agents that caused the phone to “delete the digital contents,” prior to the device being seized. Tunick’s attorneys filed a motion to suppress the evidence, claiming that the detention and the seizure were unlawful. The motion said U.S. border authorities took Tunick into a secondary inspection at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport as he returned from overseas on January 24, 2025, but that he was repeatedly denied access to an attorney and was not informed of his legal rights. Tunick’s attorneys accused the government of demanding access to his phone under the pretext of searching for child exploitation imagery, but without providing evidence to justify its suspicion. His motion to suppress argued that the government was instead investigating him over his association with a long-running environmental movement called "Defend the Atlanta Forest", which opposes the development of a sprawling training campus for law enforcement in Atlanta dubbed “Cop City.” #duresspasscode #grapheneos #copcity #atlanta #samueltunik https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/24/us-accuses-american-of-allegedly-wiping-his-phone-using-a-duress-password-during-border-search/

#US accuses American, a #CopCity #protester, of allegedly wiping his phone using a ‘duress’ password during border search Concern over US effort to prosecute #SamTunick, accused by authorities of wiping his phone using the #OpenSource #GrapheneOS Experts said it may be the first time law has been aimed at operating system, which works on Google Pixel phones, and expressed concerns about a technology created for #privacy and security being used to criminalize protesters. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/23/cop-city-protester-phone

Well, this is chilling. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/23/cop-city-protester-phone --- #grapheneos #privacy #CopCity