Lawsuit: US citizen suing CBP for coercing him into unlocking his phone during boarding at LAX
Elsharkawi is now suing the US government, the Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, CBP commissioner Kevin McAleenan, and four of the agents who questioned him in 2017, seeking damages and an order that would prevent the government from performing this kind of search in the future. He and his lawyers argue that CBP and DHS violated the First Amendment, which protects religious freedom and freedom of speech, because his phone contained “expressive content and associational information.” His lawsuit also argues that they breached the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches and seizures, and the Fifth Amendment, which protects against self-incrimination. “The search of Mr. Elsharkawi’s phone was not supported by any real suspicion of ongoing or imminent criminal activity and as such no basis for a search existed,” Elsharkawi’s lawyers, who defined the incident as “outrageous,” argued in the complaint.
American Sues US Government For Allegedly Pressuring Him To Unlock His Phone at Airport [Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai|/Motherboard]