DHS lied about searching man who wiped GrapheneOS phone
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Court records show CBP officers cited child abuse material when stopping a Stop Cop City activist's phone.
The case tests how far border agents can search activists' phones.
Background
Samuel Tunick is a geography graduate student at Georgia State University and a participant in Stop Cop City, the Atlanta movement opposing a $115 million police training center. In January 2025, an internal Homeland Security Investigations (HSI, part of ICE) email told Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that Tunick was under investigation for suspected terrorist activities and directed agents to seize his electronics at Atlanta's airport. During questioning, officers said they needed his phone to look for child abuse material; Tunick gave a code that wiped his GrapheneOS phone, a privacy-hardened Android system, and was later indicted for that act. Newly filed court records reported in October 2026 show the discrepancy between the stated and actual reasons for the search.
How it unfolded
- 2022Samuel Tunick, a Georgia State University geography graduate student, joins the Stop Cop City movement.
- Jan 2023Protester Manuel "Tortuguita" Esteban Paez Terán is killed by Georgia state police during a clearing operation at the contested site.
- Jan 24, 2025Tunick is stopped at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; an internal HSI email says he is under investigation for suspected terrorist activities and directs agents to retain his electronics and collect passcodes.
- Jan 2025During interrogation, CBP officers ask whether they will find "kiddie porn" on his phone; Tunick denies it and provides a code that wipes his GrapheneOS phone.
- Nov 2025The government indicts Tunick.
- Jul 2026At a suppression hearing, CBP Officer Findley, one of three testifying officers, concedes agents had no basis for the child-pornography accusation.
- Oct 20, 2026404 Media first reports the newly filed court records showing the deception.
- Oct 21, 2026Cybernews and Tech Times report on the court records.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- An HSI official's internal email stated Tunick was under investigation by HSI/JTTF for suspected terrorist activities and directed agents to retain his electronics.
- Caution
- CBP Officer Findley acknowledged under oath that officers had no reason to believe Tunick possessed child pornography.
- Support
- Tunick's lawyers argue in a brief that the unfounded accusations were "nothing more than pretext for a fishing expedition into the depths of Mr. Tunick's devices."
- Expert
- Defense attorney Matthew Dodge called the deception "a lie" and said he found only one other crime, involving drug trafficking, where someone had been charged under this statute.
Still unverified
Defense attorneys allege the child-exploitation accusation was a fabricated pretext to insulate the targeting from scrutiny; the sources describe this as an allegation by the defense.