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Samuel Tunick Charged After Phone Wipe at Atlanta Airport

By Drooid · Oct 20, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

U.S. Homeland Security officials alerted customs to detain Samuel Tunick at Atlanta airport in January 2025 for suspected terrorism.
Customs officers told Tunick they needed his phone to search for “kiddie porn,” contradicting the terrorism pretext.
Tunick entered a code that remotely wiped his security-focused GrapheneOS phone.
He is charged with destroying digital contents under a rare law, facing up to five years in federal prison.

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Story summary

U.S. Homeland Security officials alerted customs to detain Samuel Tunick at Atlanta airport in January 2025 for suspected terrorism.
Customs officers told Tunick they needed his phone to search for “kiddie porn,” contradicting the terrorism pretext.
Tunick entered a code that remotely wiped his security-focused GrapheneOS phone.
He is charged with destroying digital contents under a rare law, facing up to five years in federal prison.