US government targets Cop City protester over phone operating system
Summary
The US Department of Justice is prosecuting an Atlanta resident, Sam Tunick, linked to protests against the police training center called Cop City, partly because his phone had GrapheneOS, a secure operating system. Tunick was stopped and questioned at Atlanta’s airport without a warrant, asked repeatedly to unlock his phone, which then erased itself after he entered the passcode. His defense argues his rights were violated during this interrogation.Key Facts
- Sam Tunick is connected to protests against Cop City, a $109 million police training center in Atlanta.
- Tunick’s phone used GrapheneOS, an open-source operating system designed to protect user privacy with features like wiping data after entering a passcode.
- Federal authorities stopped and interrogated Tunick at Atlanta’s airport after placing him on a terrorism watchlist.
- During questioning, agents focused on child sexual abuse images but defense says this was a cover to investigate protest links.
- Tunick asked four times for a lawyer but was denied each time; no warrant was shown, and his rights were not read.
- After entering his phone passcode, the phone erased its contents, raising legal issues about evidence and constitutional rights.
- Experts say this may be the first time that the law was applied to a phone’s operating system and worry this could criminalize privacy tools.
- Protests against Cop City involve concerns about police militarization and environmental damage from clearing forests.
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