One of the unfortunate quirks of the American system is that you can't lie to the government, but the government can lie to you. Samuel Tunick found himself on the receiving end of this setup last year at Atlanta International Airport. When agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asked for his phone password, he allegedly gave them a self-destruct code that wiped his data. Tunick now faces five years in prison for destroying evidence.

It turns out that the feds were lying to Tunick the entire time. A new court filing, first reported by 404 Media, shows that the DHS had sent out an order to seize Tunick's phone over his involvement in environmentalist protests in Atlanta. When he landed at the airport, however, agents told Tunick that they were looking for "kiddie porn" and he would be allowed to leave with his phone if he cooperated. They also repeatedly denied him access to his lawyer when he asked.

"There can be no real debate that if law enforcement had acted similarly elsewhere in Atlanta, their actions would be unconstitutional. But the government says it was entitled to act this way because Mr. Tunick was returning from an international vacation" in the Dominican Republic, his lawyers wrote in the filing, which includes internal DHS communications and excerpts from his interrogation video.

U.S. law recognizes a "border exception" to Fourth Amendment privacy rights, allowing federal agents to search incoming travelers for contraband. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) claims that this exemption also allows them to hold travelers for questioning and search their electronic data. Tunick's case reveals just how widely the agency stretches this loophole.

A few hours before Tunick landed, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent Travis Mcghie emailed the CBP station in Atlanta with his photo and information, stating that he is under investigation for "suspected terrorist activities." (Tunick is involved in Save the Atlanta Forest, also known as Stop Cop City, a protest movement against a local police training center.) The email asked CBP to "conduct a 100% baggage exam, retain all electronics and collect passcodes," stating that the HSI will be at the airport to conduct an interrogation.

Pulled into the secondary screening room, Tunick "almost immediately" told CBP officers that "I don't really want to speak without a lawyer any more," according to the filing, which cites the interrogation tape. He would ask for a lawyer multiple times.

The agents asked Tunick if he had "kiddie porn" on his phone and stated that "because you're refusing to talk, we have the authority to go through your phone to see what we're looking for." One of them, Latoya Castro, told Tunick that "either you can give us your password so that we can go through it no problem, or you can refuse to do that, unfortunately, we will have to seize your phone."

Both of those statements were a lie, of course. The HSI's email had asked CBP to take Tunick's phone, whether or not he cooperated.

The lie about child porn may not only have been meant to intimidate Tunick. While there are contradictory lower court rulings about the border search exemption, some courts have ruled that the CBP can only search electronics for "digital contraband," or files that are themselves illegal. A search for child sex abuse material would be on stronger legal ground than a search for mere evidence of other crimes.

Tunick was using GrapheneOS, a secure phone system that allows users to set both a real password and a "duress password" that wipes out all data when entered. The interrogation tape shows his phone appearing to reset after he gave the officers a passcode. HSI agent Nathan Burnham and FBI agent Andrea Coble then entered the room.

"You are not under arrest. Once these gentlemen are done with you, pursuant to your entry into the country, you're free to leave," Burnham said, referring to the CBP officers.

Tunick's lawyers argue that the judge should throw out the phone password Tunick provided and everything that resulted from entering it as an "involuntary" response made under "unlawful interrogation," because the CBP agents did not read Tunick his Fifth Amendment rights and ignored his multiple requests to consult with his lawyer before answering their questions.

The CBP claims that secondary screening at the border doesn't count as a criminal investigation, so detainees don't have the same rights as criminal suspects. "Since the international arrivals inspection is an administrative function, CBP policy and federal regs do not permit the presence of lawyers during secondary examinations," a spokesman told Reason earlier this year.

But Tunick's lawyers insist that his experience was "far outside" a normal border crossing: He was accused of a serious crime to his face, faced an investigation for a different serious crime he didn't know about, and clearly could not leave the situation until he gave information to government agents.

"I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people against protecting their data and their privacy, and the government hopes to set a precedent that no one has the right to privacy," Tunick told 404 Media. 

Defend the Atlanta Forest, the movement that Tunick is involved with, has been a major nuisance for authorities in Georgia. Protesters attacked and burned construction equipment throughout 2022, and police shot a protester in 2023 under unclear circumstances, claiming that they were fired at during a raid.

The Trump administration has brought down the federal government against the movement. In June 2026, the Department of Justice brought federal charges against two alleged arsonists, citing National Security Presidential Memo 7, which directs the feds to go after left-wing domestic terrorism.

But beyond the email line about "suspected terrorist activities," there is no indication of what specific crimes the feds suspected Tunick of, or why they suspected him. And the whole setup of the interrogation was designed to hide those answers. In fact, instead of charging Tunick under typical obstruction or evidence-destruction laws, federal prosecutors chose a rarely-used statute that doesn't require them to disclose what the underlying investigation was about.

"Many times the government wants to highlight what it was trying to investigate because that ups the stakes on what the defendant was doing," former prosecutor Daniel Richman told The New York Times. "This is a case where I think they're trying to avoid exactly that by focusing only on the destruction, and not what the investigation was about." 

The post Homeland Security Lied About Child Porn To Search Activist's Phone appeared first on Reason Magazine.

A convicted bank robber allegedly returned to a familiar disguise while robbing two Florida banks on supervised release, donning an "old man" mask and fleeing in a getaway vehicle tied to his earlier crimes, federal authorities said.

David Sartin Jr., 40, of St. Petersburg, faces two bank robbery charges after investigators say he targeted banks weeks apart while concealing his face behind a prosthetic mask with gray facial hair.

The allegations follow a sentence of more than 10 years in federal prison in a case involving five Texas bank robberies, during which Sartin wore a similar disguise, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by Fox News Digital.

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His supervised release began in May 2025. Investigators allege he robbed the first Florida bank in August 2026.

"In all of SARTIN JR.’s bank robberies, he used a mask," an FBI special agent wrote in the affidavit.

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The first holdup happened Aug. 24 at Valley Bank in Largo, where the suspect entered wearing a straw hat, sports jacket, gloves and a prosthetic face covering, according to investigators.

He approached a teller, demanded money and warned, "no dye packs," the complaint states.

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As the teller gathered cash and activated a silent alarm, the robber repeatedly urged the employee to hurry, a bank manager told investigators.

"Until we meet again," the suspect said after collecting the money, according to the manager’s account.

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Authorities say he escaped with $2,900, wedging a yellow wet-floor sign between the exit doors before fleeing toward a nearby church.

Surveillance video showed the suspect retrieving a bicycle, riding into a nature preserve and leaving the area in a Toyota FJ Cruiser, according to the affidavit.

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Investigators traced the vehicle’s movements through video from surrounding businesses, city trucks, a police cruiser and a school bus. The Toyota was the same vehicle used in several of Sartin’s earlier Texas robberies, authorities said.

On Sept. 15, a similarly disguised suspect entered a Truist Bank in St. Petersburg wearing a flat cap, glasses, a sports jacket and an "old man" mask with a gray mustache and whiskers.

PHILADELPHIA MAN IN 'CHUCKY' MASK ACCUSED OF TERRORIZING CITIZENS NABBED IN LAS VEGAS AFTER MANHUNT

He handed a teller a note demanding cash without dye and fled with approximately $2,554, according to the complaint.

The teller suspected the man was wearing a mask and told investigators he "did not move like an old man would," the FBI agent wrote.

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By then, the FBI was monitoring Sartin’s home with a surveillance camera. Video captured the Toyota leaving before the second robbery and returning afterward, when a man resembling Sartin unloaded a bicycle, according to the affidavit.

The following evening, investigators watched Sartin change the vehicle’s appearance. Investigators said he spray-painted the vehicle’s white roof black.

MASKED SUSPECT CHARGED WITH USING FUEL, FIREWORKS IN WALMART KIDS SECTION AS COVER FOR MASSIVE JEWELRY HEIST

Sartin was arrested Sept. 19 on a warrant for violating his supervised release. Searches uncovered a bicycle and clothing similar to those seen in the robbery video, authorities said.

Agents searching his storage unit found an "old man" mask they said matched the disguise worn during both robberies, along with glasses, clothing and a fake handgun.

In a guest room where Sartin occasionally stayed, investigators also found another mask and a journal identifying him as its author. Its title page included the words, "God’s Best friend is a Bank Robber!" according to the complaint.

Sartin’s previous convictions stretch back nearly two decades. He was convicted of attempted bank robbery in Mississippi in 2008 following a failed holdup involving Halloween masks and disguises.

In 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years and one month in federal prison in the Texas bank robbery case.

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He now faces up to 20 years in prison on each new robbery count if convicted, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.