Samuel Tunick Faces 5-Year Felony Over Phone Wipe at Atlanta Airport
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 28
Samuel Tunick Faces 5-Year Felony Over Phone Wipe at Atlanta Airport
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 28
Summary
Federal prosecutors in Atlanta are pursuing an obstruction charge against Samuel Tunick after he allegedly entered a duress passcode that wiped his phone when customs officers sought access.
The case stems from Tunick’s Jan. 24, 2025 return through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where authorities stopped, questioned and seized the device before letting him enter the country.
The statute used in the case makes it a felony to destroy evidence to prevent government seizure and carries penalties of up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.
Tunick’s lawyers argued at a hearing last week that the seizure was unlawful and that he was targeted over activism against Atlanta’s planned police and fire training center in a 1,000-acre woodland.
The prosecution appears to be one of the earliest known federal cases treating software-triggered phone wiping as criminal destruction of evidence.