Last January, Sam Tunick landed at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport after a trip abroad. Federal agents pulled him aside for questioning. He asked for a lawyer four times. Each time, he was refused. Agents never presented a warrant or read him his rights.

When agents pressured Tunick into entering a passcode on his phone, the device automatically wiped itself, a built-in security feature of GrapheneOS, an open-source operating system designed to protect user privacy. Federal prosecutors are now treating that routine security function as a federal crime: the intentional destruction of evidence to prevent a government seizure.

If they succeed, the consequences reach far beyond one man's case. Cybersecurity experts say this may be the first time a federal law has been used against an operating system. If using a privacy-focused phone becomes evidence of criminal intent, every journalist, activist, attorney, or ordinary person who relies on encryption to protect their data is at risk. Courts in Catalonia, Spain have already begun profiling people who carry Pixel phones on the assumption that they are criminals. A successful prosecution here would give that logic a foothold in American law.

Prosecutors say Tunick was flagged because of his ties to opposition against Cop City, a controversial police training facility in Atlanta. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has raised alarms, and legal experts say the case is without precedent.

The charges against Sam Tunick must be dropped. U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia have the authority to end this case now.

Sign to demand they do.