US Citizen Faces Federal Case Over Alleged Airport Phone Wipe
Federal prosecutors are pursuing a case against Sam Tunick, a US citizen accused of using a “duress password” to erase his phone while agents attempted to search it at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The encounter occurred on January 24, 2025, when authorities detained Tunick upon his arrival and questioned him about alleged child exploitation material.
Prosecutors say Tunick supplied a password that activated a data-wiping feature in GrapheneOS, a privacy-focused mobile operating system, rather than providing the code that would unlock the device. They are relying on a rarely invoked federal statute prohibiting the destruction or damage of property to prevent its lawful seizure.
Tunick’s attorneys dispute the government’s account and are seeking to suppress the evidence. They argue that the detention and phone seizure were unlawful, making any evidence obtained during the encounter inadmissible. The defense also alleges that agents denied Tunick access to legal counsel, failed to present a warrant or explain his rights, and used the stated investigation as a pretext to examine his connections to Atlanta’s Stop Cop City movement.
The government maintains that agents did not need to produce a warrant because Tunick had not yet been formally admitted into the United States. That position places the dispute within a broader legal debate over the scope of border-search authority, particularly when it is applied to American citizens and their digital devices.
Privacy advocates say the case could have wider implications for travelers who use security tools to protect personal data. The government argues that agents were not required to provide a warrant before Tunick was admitted to the country. The court will consider whether the search and detention were lawful and whether using a duress password can support prosecution under the property-destruction statute in question.