Trump's Border Thugs Bully US Journalist

[georgephillip]

Trump and his handler recently joked about "fake news" at the G20:

"Texas journalist Seth Harp, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, tells a harrowing tale at The Intercept about his May 13 effort to return to the U.S. from a reporting trip in Mexico City.

"Passing through immigration at the Austin airport, I was pulled out of line for 'secondary screening,' a quasi-custodial law enforcement process that takes place in the Homeland Security zone of the airport.

"Cooperation didn’t earn me any leniency.

"Next up was a thorough search of my suitcase, down to unscrewing the tops of my toiletries.

"That much I expected.

"But then a third officer, whose name was Villarreal, carefully read every page of my 2019 journal, including copious notes to self on work, relationships, friends, family, and all sorts of private reflections I had happened to write down.

"That was just the beginning.

"The real abuse of power was a warrantless search of my phone and laptop.

Trump's Border Bullies Harass a Journalist | DCReport.org

"After I gave an officer the password to my iPhone, he spent three hours reviewing hundreds of photos and videos and emails and calls and texts, including encrypted messages on WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.

"It was the digital equivalent of tossing someone’s house: opening cabinets, pulling out drawers, and overturning furniture in hopes of finding something — anything — illegal.

"He read my communications with friends, family, and loved ones.

"He went through my correspondence with colleagues, editors, and sources. He asked about the identities of people who have worked with me in war zones.

"He also went through my personal photos, which I resented.

"Consider everything on your phone right now.

"Nothing on mine was spared."

Trump recently gave the impression he believes Putin's treatment of Russian journalists is something to chuckle about.

What else can you expect from gangsters in high places?

 

[bodecea]

Read his article.....thugs indeed.

 

[percysunshine]

Meh...the TSA does that to everyone before they get on an airplane.

 

[Auld Phart]

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

Trump and his handler recently joked about "fake news" at the G20:

"Texas journalist Seth Harp, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, tells a harrowing tale at The Intercept about his May 13 effort to return to the U.S. from a reporting trip in Mexico City.

"Passing through immigration at the Austin airport, I was pulled out of line for 'secondary screening,' a quasi-custodial law enforcement process that takes place in the Homeland Security zone of the airport.

"Cooperation didn’t earn me any leniency.

"Next up was a thorough search of my suitcase, down to unscrewing the tops of my toiletries.

"That much I expected.

"But then a third officer, whose name was Villarreal, carefully read every page of my 2019 journal, including copious notes to self on work, relationships, friends, family, and all sorts of private reflections I had happened to write down.

"That was just the beginning.

"The real abuse of power was a warrantless search of my phone and laptop.

Trump's Border Bullies Harass a Journalist | DCReport.org

"After I gave an officer the password to my iPhone, he spent three hours reviewing hundreds of photos and videos and emails and calls and texts, including encrypted messages on WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.

"It was the digital equivalent of tossing someone’s house: opening cabinets, pulling out drawers, and overturning furniture in hopes of finding something — anything — illegal.

"He read my communications with friends, family, and loved ones.

"He went through my correspondence with colleagues, editors, and sources. He asked about the identities of people who have worked with me in war zones.

"He also went through my personal photos, which I resented.

"Consider everything on your phone right now.

"Nothing on mine was spared."

Trump recently gave the impression he believes Putin's treatment of Russian journalists is something to chuckle about.

What else can you expect from gangsters in high places?

What did Harp say to make them mad?

 

[bodecea]

Meh...the TSA does that to everyone before they get on an airplane.

You didn't read about it, did you? Nothing there at all about getting ON an aircraft.

 

[Ringel05]

More like a block of salt........

 

[percysunshine]

Meh...the TSA does that to everyone before they get on an airplane.

You didn't read about it, did you? Nothing there at all about getting ON an aircraft.

Same thing, except it is a different government bureaucracy.

 

[Camp]

Meh...the TSA does that to everyone before they get on an airplane.

No, they do not. And, he was not getting on a plane, he was departing one. What reasonable explanation is there for reading a person's personal notes and documents without articulable evidence of a crime or threat?

 

[blackhawk]

More like a block of salt........

No ton of salt.

 

[percysunshine]

Meh...the TSA does that to everyone before they get on an airplane.

No, they do not. And, he was not getting on a plane, he was departing one. What reasonable explanation is there for reading a person's personal notes and documents without articulable evidence of a crime or threat?

How many times have you personally gone through immigration in any country?

This is typical treatment for any traveler who insists on being an asshole. I have watched many people dig themselves into days of confinement.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

Trump and his handler recently joked about "fake news" at the G20:

"Texas journalist Seth Harp, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, tells a harrowing tale at The Intercept about his May 13 effort to return to the U.S. from a reporting trip in Mexico City.

"Passing through immigration at the Austin airport, I was pulled out of line for 'secondary screening,' a quasi-custodial law enforcement process that takes place in the Homeland Security zone of the airport.

"Cooperation didn’t earn me any leniency.

"Next up was a thorough search of my suitcase, down to unscrewing the tops of my toiletries.

"That much I expected.

"But then a third officer, whose name was Villarreal, carefully read every page of my 2019 journal, including copious notes to self on work, relationships, friends, family, and all sorts of private reflections I had happened to write down.

"That was just the beginning.

"The real abuse of power was a warrantless search of my phone and laptop.

Trump's Border Bullies Harass a Journalist | DCReport.org

"After I gave an officer the password to my iPhone, he spent three hours reviewing hundreds of photos and videos and emails and calls and texts, including encrypted messages on WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.

"It was the digital equivalent of tossing someone’s house: opening cabinets, pulling out drawers, and overturning furniture in hopes of finding something — anything — illegal.

"He read my communications with friends, family, and loved ones.

"He went through my correspondence with colleagues, editors, and sources. He asked about the identities of people who have worked with me in war zones.

"He also went through my personal photos, which I resented.

"Consider everything on your phone right now.

"Nothing on mine was spared."

Trump recently gave the impression he believes Putin's treatment of Russian journalists is something to chuckle about.

What else can you expect from gangsters in high places?

But if he just walked across our border he would have never been inspected.

 

[georgephillip]

Trump and his handler recently joked about "fake news" at the G20:

"Texas journalist Seth Harp, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, tells a harrowing tale at The Intercept about his May 13 effort to return to the U.S. from a reporting trip in Mexico City.

"Passing through immigration at the Austin airport, I was pulled out of line for 'secondary screening,' a quasi-custodial law enforcement process that takes place in the Homeland Security zone of the airport.

"Cooperation didn’t earn me any leniency.

"Next up was a thorough search of my suitcase, down to unscrewing the tops of my toiletries.

"That much I expected.

"But then a third officer, whose name was Villarreal, carefully read every page of my 2019 journal, including copious notes to self on work, relationships, friends, family, and all sorts of private reflections I had happened to write down.

"That was just the beginning.

"The real abuse of power was a warrantless search of my phone and laptop.

Trump's Border Bullies Harass a Journalist | DCReport.org

"After I gave an officer the password to my iPhone, he spent three hours reviewing hundreds of photos and videos and emails and calls and texts, including encrypted messages on WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.

"It was the digital equivalent of tossing someone’s house: opening cabinets, pulling out drawers, and overturning furniture in hopes of finding something — anything — illegal.

"He read my communications with friends, family, and loved ones.

"He went through my correspondence with colleagues, editors, and sources. He asked about the identities of people who have worked with me in war zones.

"He also went through my personal photos, which I resented.

"Consider everything on your phone right now.

"Nothing on mine was spared."

Trump recently gave the impression he believes Putin's treatment of Russian journalists is something to chuckle about.

What else can you expect from gangsters in high places?

What did Harp say to make them mad?

What did Harp say to make them mad?

According to Harp, his refusal to divulge the "substance" of the story he had been working on in Mexico for the last seven days instigated his ordeal:

I’m a Journalist but I Didn’t Fully Realize the Terrible Power of U.S. Border Officials Until They Violated My Rights and Privacy

"I SHOULD HAVE kept my mouth shut about the guacamole; that made things worse for me. Otherwise, what I’m about to describe could happen to any American who travels internationally. It happened 33,295 times last year...."

"Austin is where I was born and raised, and I usually get waved through immigration after one or two questions. I’m also a white man; more on that later.

"This time, when my turn came to show my passport, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was more aggressive than usual in his questioning.

"I told him I’d been in Mexico for seven days for work, that I was a journalist, and that I travel to Mexico often, as he could see from my passport.

"That wasn’t enough for him, though.

"He wanted to know the substance of the story I was currently working on, which didn’t sit right with me. I tried to skirt the question, but he came back to it, pointedly."

 

[Camp]

Meh...the TSA does that to everyone before they get on an airplane.

No, they do not. And, he was not getting on a plane, he was departing one. What reasonable explanation is there for reading a person's personal notes and documents without articulable evidence of a crime or threat?

How many times have you personally gone through immigration in any country?

This is typical treatment for any traveler who insists on being an asshole. I have watched many people dig themselves into days of confinement.

Dozens of times to and from multiple countries, including ones that required pre-approved visa's, meaning I had to send my passport to their Embassy for review and provide details of my proposed visit.

 

[percysunshine]

Meh...the TSA does that to everyone before they get on an airplane.

No, they do not. And, he was not getting on a plane, he was departing one. What reasonable explanation is there for reading a person's personal notes and documents without articulable evidence of a crime or threat?

How many times have you personally gone through immigration in any country?

This is typical treatment for any traveler who insists on being an asshole. I have watched many people dig themselves into days of confinement.

Dozens of times to and from multiple countries, including ones that required pre-approved visa's, meaning I had to send my passport to their Embassy for review and provide details of my proposed visit.

Ok. Did you ever observe an asshole interacting with an immigration official?

 

[miketx]

Journalist? lmao.

 

[georgephillip]

Meh...the TSA does that to everyone before they get on an airplane.

No, they do not. And, he was not getting on a plane, he was departing one. What reasonable explanation is there for reading a person's personal notes and documents without articulable evidence of a crime or threat?

How many times have you personally gone through immigration in any country?

This is typical treatment for any traveler who insists on being an asshole. I have watched many people dig themselves into days of confinement.

This is typical treatment for any traveler who insists on being an asshole. I have watched many people dig themselves into days of confinement.

Aside from being a journalist, what actions did Harp take to lead you to the conclusion he was "being an asshole?"

I’m a Journalist but I Didn’t Fully Realize the Terrible Power of U.S. Border Officials Until They Violated My Rights and Privacy

"CBP has been doing warrantless device searches since the advent of the modern smartphone, Cope said, but the practice has increased by some 300 percent since Trump took office.

"In late 2017, EFF teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union and filed a case alleging the unconstitutionality of the administration’s blitz of warrantless searches.

"Anecdotally, CBP appears to be targeting typical Trumpian scapegoats, including Muslims, Latinos, and journalists, but anyone reentering the United States can be subject to these searches.

"The 11 plaintiffs in the EFF and ACLU case are a computer programmer, a filmmaker, a graduate student, a nursing student, a limousine driver, a businessman, an engineer, a professor, an artist, and two journalists.

"All are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents who had experiences similar to mine.

 

[georgephillip]

Trump and his handler recently joked about "fake news" at the G20:

"Texas journalist Seth Harp, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, tells a harrowing tale at The Intercept about his May 13 effort to return to the U.S. from a reporting trip in Mexico City.

"Passing through immigration at the Austin airport, I was pulled out of line for 'secondary screening,' a quasi-custodial law enforcement process that takes place in the Homeland Security zone of the airport.

"Cooperation didn’t earn me any leniency.

"Next up was a thorough search of my suitcase, down to unscrewing the tops of my toiletries.

"That much I expected.

"But then a third officer, whose name was Villarreal, carefully read every page of my 2019 journal, including copious notes to self on work, relationships, friends, family, and all sorts of private reflections I had happened to write down.

"That was just the beginning.

"The real abuse of power was a warrantless search of my phone and laptop.

Trump's Border Bullies Harass a Journalist | DCReport.org

"After I gave an officer the password to my iPhone, he spent three hours reviewing hundreds of photos and videos and emails and calls and texts, including encrypted messages on WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.

"It was the digital equivalent of tossing someone’s house: opening cabinets, pulling out drawers, and overturning furniture in hopes of finding something — anything — illegal.

"He read my communications with friends, family, and loved ones.

"He went through my correspondence with colleagues, editors, and sources. He asked about the identities of people who have worked with me in war zones.

"He also went through my personal photos, which I resented.

"Consider everything on your phone right now.

"Nothing on mine was spared."

Trump recently gave the impression he believes Putin's treatment of Russian journalists is something to chuckle about.

What else can you expect from gangsters in high places?

But if he just walked across our border he would have never been inspected.

But if he just walked across our border he would have never been inspected.

T or F?

"Forcing travelers who are not suspected of any wrongdoing to cough up their passwords, on pain of having their devices seized, violates the Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures, the plaintiffs argue, and also infringes the First Amendment right to free expression and association by means of government intimidation and surveillance."

I’m a Journalist but I Didn’t Fully Realize the Terrible Power of U.S. Border Officials Until They Violated My Rights and Privacy

 

[The Purge]

Trump and his handler recently joked about "fake news" at the G20:

"Texas journalist Seth Harp, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, tells a harrowing tale at The Intercept about his May 13 effort to return to the U.S. from a reporting trip in Mexico City.

"Passing through immigration at the Austin airport, I was pulled out of line for 'secondary screening,' a quasi-custodial law enforcement process that takes place in the Homeland Security zone of the airport.

"Cooperation didn’t earn me any leniency.

"Next up was a thorough search of my suitcase, down to unscrewing the tops of my toiletries.

"That much I expected.

"But then a third officer, whose name was Villarreal, carefully read every page of my 2019 journal, including copious notes to self on work, relationships, friends, family, and all sorts of private reflections I had happened to write down.

"That was just the beginning.

"The real abuse of power was a warrantless search of my phone and laptop.

Trump's Border Bullies Harass a Journalist | DCReport.org

"After I gave an officer the password to my iPhone, he spent three hours reviewing hundreds of photos and videos and emails and calls and texts, including encrypted messages on WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.

"It was the digital equivalent of tossing someone’s house: opening cabinets, pulling out drawers, and overturning furniture in hopes of finding something — anything — illegal.

"He read my communications with friends, family, and loved ones.

"He went through my correspondence with colleagues, editors, and sources. He asked about the identities of people who have worked with me in war zones.

"He also went through my personal photos, which I resented.

"Consider everything on your phone right now.

"Nothing on mine was spared."

Trump recently gave the impression he believes Putin's treatment of Russian journalists is something to chuckle about.

What else can you expect from gangsters in high places?

ROLLING STONE....MIGHT AS WELL BE THE RED CHINA DAILY!

 

[georgephillip]

"Update: June 24, 2019

"After publication, The Intercept learned that a CBP supervisor was incorrect when he told a reporter that a U.S. citizen may be forbidden from entering the country for refusing to answer a CBP officer’s questions. The piece has been updated to clarify that CBP does not have the power to stop American citizens from entering the U.S."

I’m a Journalist but I Didn’t Fully Realize the Terrible Power of U.S. Border Officials Until They Violated My Rights and Privacy