Samuel Tunick accused of wiping phone at airport

US citizen Samuel Tunick is facing charges for allegedly giving Customs and Border Protection agents a passcode that erased his phone during questioning at Atlanta’s airport.

Tunick, an activist in a campaign against construction of a police training centre in Georgia, is accused of destroying evidence during the January 24, 2025 incident. He has pleaded not guilty.

If convicted of violating a law that makes it a crime to destroy property to prevent its seizure, Tunick faces up to five years in prison. A hearing in the case was held in US District Court in Atlanta last week.

Court documents said Tunick was returning from the Dominican Republic when CBP and FBI agents took him aside for questioning and searched his belongings.

According to the documents, Tunick’s requests for a lawyer were repeatedly denied. When asked to unlock his Google Pixel phone, he allegedly gave a passcode that triggered software that wiped the device.

CBP officers said the screen went blank, flashed several times and the phone appeared to restart.

Tunick’s attorneys argue that his constitutional rights were violated, including his Fourth Amendment protection from warrantless search and seizure. They said officers could not disregard all constitutional protections simply because he was at the border.

His lawyers said Tunick was being investigated because of his activities with Defend the Atlanta Forest, an environmental group opposing plans to build a police training centre. They said there is no evidence that he was involved in criminal activity connected with the movement and described the demand to unlock his phone as an illegal fishing expedition.

US courts have previously held, though not unanimously, that warrantless searches at the border may be legal, including forensic searches of electronic devices.

A trial date has not yet been set.