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[Whims-of-Fate]

From Ars Technica:

A Southern California man has become the latest person to sue the federal government over what he says is an unconstitutional search of his phone at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Elsharkawi [...] was pulled aside [...] by a Customs and Border Protection officer, who began questioning him about how much cash he was carrying and where he was going. Elsharkawi complied with the officer’s inquiries and dutifully followed him to a nearby table.

Elsharkawi asked [...] whether he needed an attorney. [...] Officer Rivas then accused Mr. Elsharkawi of hiding something because of his request for an attorney."

[...]Officer Rodriguez, began searching Elsharkawi’s pockets and discovered his phone. Rodriguez asked Elsharkawi to unlock his phone, which he declined to do. He then also refused to answer further questions without having an attorney present.

[...]Elsharkawi asked for his phone back to make a call. Officer Rodriguez responded by stating that Mr. Elsharkawi had an attitude, was obviously racist, and had a problem with the uniform of CBP officers. Officer Rodriguez told Mr. Elsharkawi to put his hands behind his back, and handcuffed him.

[...]Elsharkawi was taken to a holding cell and was eventually brought before a supervisor named Officer Stevenson. Stevenson explained that the agents were "just protecting the country" and that all he had to do was unlock his phone.

[...]Eventually [...] Elsharkawi "felt he had no choice but to acquiesce and unlocked his phone."

Officer Jennifer began searching his phone and asked Elsharkawi about his eBay and Amazon accounts, and "where he got merchandise for his e-commerce business, and what swap meets he frequents. Officer Jennifer also commented that Mr. Elsharkawi had a lot of apps and a lot of unread emails on his phone."

Snipped for clarity. Sorry for the long post. It was necessary to convey all occurences. It's a long report and I recommend reading it before forming an opinion.

Details at link.

 

[The Elite]

Officer Jennifer began searching his phone and asked Elsharkawi about his eBay and Amazon accounts, and "where he got merchandise for his e-commerce business, and what swap meets he frequents. Officer Jennifer also commented that Mr. Elsharkawi had a lot of apps and a lot of unread emails on his phone."/QUOTE]

This reminds me of that time I was leaving Israel and two military women with large machine guns went through my luggage and sifted through my underwear.

I felt violated.

 

[olimariOA]

I hope he wins
Being at an airport doesn't make these thorough searches reasonable

 

[Musky_Cheese]

Hope he wins.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

good for him.

while i appreciate the job they are doing, i mean you have to scrutinize... they just didn't handle the situation properly.

if he was detained and wanted a lawyer, get him his lawyer if you think that it is that serious. else make note of it and let him carry on.

i swear the logic goes out the window and authority goes to peoples heads. no one likes to be talked back to or resisted, esp at their job, so its easy to see why this crap escalates a lot the time, but still...no excuses

 

[Whims-of-Fate]

They said you can't get an attorney because you're not under arrest, then proceeded to handcuff him and take him to a holding cell. Smh.

 

[infinitys_7th]

I would have unlocked it, then very quickly Googled goatse, lemon party, or 2 Girls 1 Cup.

Let them inspect all they want.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

It is perfectly rational and constitutional to ask if you need an attorney when being detained.

The fact that it blew up into this is 100% proof he was correct in asking that question. His only mistake was asking if he needed one instead of immediately shutting down and demanding to get his attorney.

 

[Sqorin Hammerfarf]

I would have unlocked it, then very quickly Googled goatse, lemon party, or 2 Girls 1 Cup.

Let them inspect all they want.

Meatspin is my lock screen photo.

 

[LegendOfKage]

I would have unlocked it, then very quickly Googled goatse, lemon party, or 2 Girls 1 Cup.

Let them inspect all they want.

I would have asked to see their phone, and then I'd start playing this video:

 

[TheShadowLord]

good for him.

while i appreciate the job they are doing, i mean you have to scrutinize... they just didn't handle the situation properly.

if he was detained and wanted a lawyer, get him his lawyer if you think that it is that serious. else make note of it and let him carry on.

Well he is a Muslim so that could be a reason why and wanted to know if he had any ties to terrorism or is radicalize into Islamic extremist.

 

[petran79]

This reminds me of that time I was leaving Israel and two military women with large machine guns went through my luggage and sifted through my underwear.

I felt violated.

They do that at 1 out of ten passengers or else it would take hours. You were unlucky

 

[DeepEnigma]

They do that at 1 out of ten passengers or else it would take hours. You were unlucky

Or maybe he was lucky

Spoiler

 

[EviLore]

Airports to avoid:

LAX
La Guardia
That airfield we bombed in Syria

 

[Gander]

I view a phone as private property, unless I'm actually under arrest you can't make me do shit with. I could have my bank information on there, my address or even where my kids go to daycare. There is no reason you need to be seeing all that.

 

[haxan7]

Some quick research shows that in order to win a lawsuit against the U.S. federal government, he will need to prove that the agents forcing him to unlock his phone were acting in bad faith, i.e. they were intentionally trying to be dicks to him for some reason (whether an ulterior motive, or they just felt like being bullies, or something similar). If they were actually acting as they claimed (to protect the country), the law of sovereign immunity rules their actions and the federal government remains untouchable.

Good luck.