Key facts
- The US Department of Justice is prosecuting Sam Tunick, a Cop City protester, over his use of GrapheneOS.
- Prosecutors allege Tunick violated a federal statute by destroying property to prevent seizure by using his phone's passcode to wipe it.
- Tunick was interrogated at Atlanta's airport after returning from vacation, having been placed on a terrorism watchlist.
- Tunick's defense argues the interrogation was a pretext for an unconstitutional search and that his rights were violated.
- The case highlights concerns about privacy-focused technology being used to criminalize protesters.
The U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing a case against Sam Tunick, an Atlanta resident and protester against the "Cop City" police training center, alleging he violated a federal statute by using his phone's passcode to wipe its contents. Tunick was detained at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport on January 24 of last year after returning from a vacation. Authorities had placed him on a terrorism watchlist due to his alleged involvement with the Cop City opposition movement.
During the interrogation, agents focused on child sexual abuse images, which Tunick's defense claims was a pretext for a broader investigation into his protest activities. Tunick's legal team argues that his constitutional rights were violated because he was denied access to a lawyer, agents lacked a warrant, and he was not read his rights. The defense also contends that the act of wiping the phone, facilitated by GrapheneOS—an open-source operating system designed for privacy and security—should not be criminalized.
Experts like Christophe Boutry, a cybersecurity and surveillance expert, and Bill Buddington from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have expressed concern that the case could criminalize privacy-enhancing technology. They noted that this appears to be the first time such a law has been applied to a phone's operating system. Tunick's defense is seeking to suppress all evidence obtained during the airport interrogation, arguing it constituted an unconstitutional search.
Testimony from Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officer Larry Findley and other agents asserted that Tunick was subjected to a standard interrogation for prohibited items. However, details revealed in court indicated Tunick asked for a lawyer four times and was refused. The judge is expected to rule on the motion to suppress evidence by the end of October. Marlon Kautz of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund emphasized the right to secure private data against unconstitutional searches.