US Government targets Cop City protester over phone operating system
3 hours ago
- The US Department of Justice is prosecuting an Atlanta resident for having GrapheneOS on his phone, linked to the Cop City protest movement, under a statute making it a crime to destroy property to prevent seizure.
- Experts say this may be the first time the law has targeted the privacy-focused operating system, raising concerns about criminalizing such technology.
- Sam Tunick was stopped at Atlanta airport after being placed on a terrorism watchlist due to alleged ties to the Cop City opposition; he was interrogated without a warrant or access to a lawyer.
- The interrogation used child sexual abuse images as a pretext to investigate Tunick's connections to the Cop City protest, according to a motion to suppress evidence.
- Similar trends in Europe show authorities profiling Google Pixel users, assuming they have GrapheneOS and are involved in criminal activity.
- A judge's decision on the motion to suppress evidence is expected at the end of October.