Samuel Tunick charged after border agent entered duress code
Federal prosecutors say Samuel Tunick broke the law by using GrapheneOS to erase his phone during a border search.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
The Samuel Tunick duress code case has put a privacy feature on a Google Pixel phone at the center of a federal prosecution. Ars Technica reported that Tunick, an Atlanta resident, faces a felony charge after a Customs and Border Protection agent entered a code that erased his phone during a border inspection.
According to Ars Technica, Tunick was returning to the United States in early 2025 after traveling abroad when customs agents sought access to his Pixel phone. The device was running GrapheneOS, an Android-based operating system that includes a duress-code option designed to wipe a phone if a separate code is entered.
The Guardian reported that the first hearing in the case took place last week. Government lawyers and agents described the airport encounter as a standard secondary inspection in which officers were searching for prohibited material, according to that report.
Tunick’s lawyers give a different account. Ars Technica reported that the defense says Tunick was singled out because of his work with Defend the Atlanta Forest, a group that opposed the $118 million law enforcement training center in Atlanta commonly known as Cop City.
What is a GrapheneOS duress code?
GrapheneOS says its duress code is an optional feature that lets a user set a code separate from the normal unlock code. If entered on the lock screen, the code immediately and irreversibly deletes data and eSIMs from the device, according to the GrapheneOS documentation cited by Ars Technica.
Ars Technica reported that GrapheneOS supports Google Pixel models starting with the Pixel 6. The operating system focuses on privacy and security features, including memory protections, automatic reboot and the duress-code function.
Why did prosecutors charge Samuel Tunick?
During the inspection, CBP agents told Tunick they wanted to search the phone for child sexual abuse material and warned that the device would be taken if he did not unlock it, according to Ars Technica. Tunick says agents did not read him his rights and denied repeated requests for a lawyer, Ars Technica reported.
Tunick provided the duress code to an agent, who entered it, after which the phone’s screen went blank, flashed several times and appeared to restart, according to the account reported by Ars Technica. The data was erased, and authorities still seized the phone.
The Justice Department later brought criminal charges in late 2025, Ars Technica reported, relying on a statute that bars a person from knowingly destroying or damaging property to keep it from being seized. If convicted, Tunick could face up to five years in prison, according to Ars Technica.
TechCrunch reported that Electronic Frontier Foundation experts said they had not seen the government use the law in this way before. Ars Technica reported that prosecutors will have to argue that Tunick violated the statute by causing the data deletion even though the encounter was presented as a routine border search.
Tunick’s defense team has asked the court to suppress evidence from the inspection, including evidence about the duress code, Ars Technica reported. The motion argues that the government violated his constitutional rights and used the border search as a pretext to gather information about activists opposed to Cop City.
According to Ars Technica, Tunick’s lawyers also say he had been placed on a watch list and that CBP emails discussed plans to detain him on his return to the United States over “suspected terrorism activities.” The Atlanta training facility opened in spring 2025, Ars Technica reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.