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The US is charging an American citizen for wiping his phone at the border

The US is charging an American citizen for wiping his phone at the border
The Verge Sunday 26 July 2026, 18:45 UTC By Terrence O’Brien 1 min read
Key Points

The government is prosecuting US citizen Sam Tunick for allegedly providing authorities with a "duress password" that wiped his phone when they tried to seize it at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport on January 24th, 2025. Federal agents detained Tunick at the airport, allegedly questioning him about child exploitation images. However, a motion filed by Tunick's lawyers argues this was simply "a pretext for a fishing expedition into Mr Tunick's connections" to the Stop Cop City movement in...

The government is prosecuting US citizen Sam Tunick for allegedly providing authorities with a "duress password" that wiped his phone when they tried to seize it at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport on January 24th, 2025. Federal agents detained Tunick at the airport, allegedly questioning him about child exploitation images. However, a motion filed by Tunick's lawyers argues this was simply "a pretext for a fishing expedition into Mr Tunick's connections" to the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta.

The government is turning to a little-known and rarely-used statute that makes it illegal to destroy or damage property to stop authorities fr …

Read the full story at The Verge.

[Image text:] Enter Passcode PQRS TUV 3 DEF O INO ZAXM 9
US (LOCATION) American (ORG) Sam Tunick (PERSON) Atlanta (LOCATION) Hartsfield-Jackson (ORG) Tunick (LOCATION)
Originally published by The Verge Read original →

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