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…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.
The border becomes a prison.
The us has truly become a police state
…Federal prosecutors in Atlanta are bringing an #obstruction charge against a #US citizen who gave customs officers what is known as a #duress passcode, which activated software that erased the contents of his #phone.
The authorities stopped Samuel Tunick, an Atlanta resident, for interrogation at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int’l Airport as he returned to the US Jan 24 last year, acc/to a Nov grand jury indictment. The authorities seized his phone before allowing him to enter the country.
…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.
The federal #statute underlying the charge makes it a #felony to destroy #evidence or transfer assets to keep the government from seizing them, or to tip someone off about an upcoming search or wiretap. It carries a penalty of up to 5 years in federal prison, a fine, or both.
The act applies before, during or after a search. If the target of an investigation knows that a search or seizure is imminent, & that person acts to thwart it, they would fall under the statute, experts said.
@Nonilex Yeah, I really think this one screwed himself. They're not going after the OS. The mechanism is legal. I don't see them claiming it's not anywhere. What's illegal is destruction of evidence and they really seem to have him on it. They threatened to take his phone so he gave this code.
Just STFU and get a lawyer. Don't play games. He would have been fine. Now he has to prove they had to right to ask to begin with. I don't think that's doable in the current legal framework.
It’s unfortunate & makes the app totally useless. What else would you need it for? Fly with a burner. FedEx your phone to yourself at your destination. Just sayin.
@Nonilex One defense option: the defendant didn’t destroy any evidence *himself*, he allowed *them* to destroy the contents of his phone. When they chose to input a passcode acquired through interrogation, they should have known that there was a chance that data would be erased. (Not a lawyer, but this seems like a valid defense)
@Nonilex What does that mean for Trump och the Epstein files?
@Nonilex It comes down to the definition of evidence, which needs to be connected to a crime. If there's no crime, it's not evidence.
Also absent from the discussion is that CBP is acting on behalf of the FBI here because the guy is an activist opposing Cop City in Atlanta. The technical issues are not the scary part.
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