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As the authorities continued their investigation into the source of the leaks, a Seattle-based software developer who has volunteered for WikiLeaks said he was detained at Newark Liberty International Airport on Thursday and questioned for three hours. The developer, Jacob Appelbaum, 27, said in an interview that as he was returning from an overseas trip, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and from the Army's criminal investigation division asked him about Mr. Assange.
Mr. Appelbaum, an American citizen, said the agents also seized his laptop computer and three cellphones. The laptop was later returned, but the phones were not, he said. Officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security, would not comment.
[...]
Mr. Appelbaum said the agents at Newark Airport refused him access to a lawyer and threatened to detain him for similar questioning whenever he re-entered the country after traveling abroad, which he said he did twice a month for a day job as an online software developer.
'They questioned my ability to re-enter the U.S. even though I'm a U.S. citizen,' he said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. 'It's very troubling to think that every time I cross the border, I'd get this treatment.'
Mr. Appelbaum, who develops software for the Tor Project, a software system that allows people to talk anonymously to each other online, filled in for Mr. Assange at a conference last month, apparently because Mr. Assange did not want to enter the United States. 'It seems the only reason they're bothering me is that Julian is beyond their reach,' Mr. Appelbaum said.
Mr. Appelbaum said he had been a volunteer for WikiLeaks for several months, but was not involved in reviewing information submitted to it. Investigators, however, appear to be examining whether Mr. Assange was assisted by others in obtaining the documents. |
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Eric Schmitt, David Sanger |
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Reporter |
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Agency(ies): |
New York Times |
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Concerning: |
Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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Url Link
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Archive Link
http://archive.is/oZd0p |
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Jacob Appelbaum, a Seattle-based programmer for the online privacy protection project called Tor, arrived at the Newark, N.J., airport on a flight from Holland on Thursday morning when he was pulled aside by customs and border protection agents, who told him that he was randomly selected for a security search, according to the sources familiar with the matter, who asked to remain anonymous.
Appelbaum, a U.S. citizen, was taken into a room and frisked, and his bag was searched. Receipts from his bag were photocopied, and his laptop was inspected, the sources said. Officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and from the U.S. Army then told him that he was not under arrest but was being detained, the sources said. The officials asked questions about Wikileaks, asked for his opinions about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and asked where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange could be found, but Appelbaum declined to comment without a lawyer present, according to the sources. Appelbaum was not permitted to make a phone call, the sources said.
After about three hours, Appelbaum was given his laptop back, but the agents kept his three mobile phones, sources said.
Asked for comment, Appelbaum declined to talk to CNET. However, he made reference to Defcon attendees about his phone getting seized. Following a question-and-answer session after his talk on the Tor Project, Appelbaum was asked by an attendee for his phone number. He replied, 'that phone was seized. |
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Name(s:) |
Elinor Mills |
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Reporter |
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CNET |
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Archive Link
http://archive.is/0oyBK |
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Last Wednesday, November 3, David House, a 23-year-old researcher who works at MIT, was returning to the U.S. from a short vacation with his girlfriend in Mexico, and was subjected to similar and even worse treatment. House's crime: he did work in helping set up the Bradley Manning Support Network, an organization created to raise money for Manning's legal defense fund, and he has now visited Manning three times in Quantico, Virginia, where the accused WikiLeaks leaker is currently being detained (all those visits are fully monitored by government agents). Like Appelbaum, House has never been accused of any crime, never been advised that he's under investigation, and was never told by any federal agents that he's suspected of any wrongdoing at all.
[...]
Last Wednesday, House arrived at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, and his flight was met in the concourse by customs agents, who examined the passports of all deplaning passengers until they saw House's, at which point they stopped. He was then directed to Customs, where his and his girlfriend's bags were extensively searched. After the search was complete, two men identifying themselves as Homeland Security officials told House and his girlfriend they were being detained for questioning and would miss their connecting flight. House was told that he was required to relinquish all of his electronic products, and thus gave them his laptop, cellphone, digital camera and UBS flash drive. The document he received itemizing his seized property is here [ NO LONGER AVAILABLE, WEB ARCHIVE]. He was also told to give the agents all of his passwords and encryption keys, which he refused to do.
[...]
House was then taken to a detention room by two armed agents and on his way there, he passed by a room in which several individuals were plugging various instruments into his laptop and cellphone. The two agents, Marcial Santiago and Darin Louck, proceeded to question him for 90 minutes about why he was visiting Manning in prison, what work he did to support the Manning campaign, who else was involved in the Manning support group, and what his views were on WikiLeaks. He was told that he would not receive his laptop or camera back, and the agents kept it. To date, he has not received them back and very well may never. When he told them that he had roughly 20 hours of source code work in his laptop and would like to save it or email it to a saved site, they told him he could not do that. He subsequently learned from Agent Santiago that although Agent Louck identified himself as a Homeland Security agent, he is, in fact, with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. |
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Name(s:) |
Glenn Greenwald |
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Title: |
Journalist |
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Agency(ies): |
Salon |
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Concerning: |
Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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Url Link
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Customs Form 6051D (11/01), [SIGNED BY] Darin A. Louck 11/3/2010, Acceptance/CHAIN of CUSTODY R. Hart, SA CHI ICE |
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Agency(ies): |
United States Customs Service |
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Concerning: |
Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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Url Link
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Coming into Chicago O'Hara Airport...stopped immediately after getting off the plane...passports were checked...people checking our passports ran ahead and kinda prepped the customs area...went to the bag search area...went through all of our belonging very thoroughly...asked my girlfriend at length about the book Hackers...why she was reading it...leaving border search area...approached by two individuals...identified themselves initially as DHS agents...told me I was compelled to surrender all of my belongings including my electronic belongings...took my belongings to the back...lead my girlfriend and I back to and interrogation area...we were interrogated for about an hour....missing our connecting flights...asked to surrender my password to computer as well as any encrypted media...a request which I refused...their questions primarily focused on the the Bradley Manning Support Network...seemed like I was being targeted for my activism for Bradley Manning' He indicated that others computers have been seized. He has been asks questions repeatedly by agents at the border. |
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Name(s:) |
David House |
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Concerning: |
Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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Url: |
Url Link
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15. On November 3, 2010, following a vacation in Mexico, Plaintiff arrived at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport where he was to take a connecting flight to Boston. He was carrying his laptop computer, a USB storage device, a video camera containing a memory storage device, and a cellular phone. Upon arrival, Plaintiff passed through a passport control station, collected his baggage, and proceeded to customs, where a CBP officer advised him that his belongings would be searched. The officer examined Plaintiff's computer and noted that it was warm but did not attempt to open it. Plaintiff was then told that he was free to leave.
16. After entering the terminal and starting to walk toward his connecting domestic flight, Plaintiff was stopped by two government agents who stated that they were with the Department of Homeland Security. The agents' name-tags identified them as Darin Louck and Marcial Santiago. Agents Louck and Santiago stated that Plaintiff was being detained and would miss his connecting flight. The two agents did not explain the reason or the authority for detaining Plaintiff.
17. Agents Louck and Santiago told Plaintiff that he would have to give them any electronic devices he was carrying. Plaintiff surrendered his computer, USB storage device, video camera, and cellular phone. Plaintiff was not asked for his consent and was not presented with a search warrant. Nor was he provided with any explanation of the purpose or authority for taking his property. The agents took Plaintiff's devices and directed him to be seated and wait. When the agents returned a short time later, they were no longer in possession of the items they had taken.
18. Plaintiff was directed to accompany the two agents to an interrogation room, where he was initially asked a series of questions concerning the security of his computer. He advised the two agents that the computer's hard disk was not encrypted, but that the computer was password protected. When asked, he declined to give them his password, explaining that the password itself would have allowed direct and unauthorized access to research on his employer's server.
19. Agents Louck and Santiago detained Plaintiff for questioning for an extended period. They questioned Plaintiff regarding his association with Bradley Manning, his work for the Support Network, whether he had any connections to WikiLeaks, and whether he had been in contact with anyone from WikiLeaks during his trip to Mexico. Plaintiff was asked no questions relating to border control, customs, trade, immigration, or terrorism, and at no point did the agents suggest that plaintiff had broken the law or that his computer contained any illegal material. Plaintiff answered their questions truthfully and to the best of his ability.
20. When Plaintiff was finally allowed to leave, only his cell phone was returned to him. The other items which had been taken, specifically his laptop, USB device, and video camera, were not returned. Plaintiff was given a receipt listing the items that had been seized, indicating that 'R. Hart, SAC CHI ICE' had taken custody of them. He was told that his devices would be returned by FedEx within a week. |
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Name(s:) |
David House |
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Concerning: |
Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Title: |
Web Archive of US Customs Service, Detention Notice and Custody Receipt for Detained Property |
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Concerning: |
"Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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21. On December 21, 2010, 48 days after the agents seized Plaintiff's electronic devices, the devices remained in the government's custody. On that date, Plaintiff, through counsel, sent a letter by facsimile to DHS, CBP, and ICE requesting that his electronic devices be returned to him immediately. He also requested that he be provided with documentation of the chain of custody of any copies made of the information contained on his devices and documentation of their destruction. |
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Name(s:) |
Catherine Crump, John Reinstein |
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Agency(ies): |
American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU |
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Concerning: |
Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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Url: |
Url Link
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22. On December 22, 2010, Plaintiff's electronic devices were returned to him by mail. Although Plaintiff had been informed they were taken into custody by 'R. Hart, SAC CHI ICE,' his electronic devices were sent to him from the 'DHS CIS New York District Office.' |
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Name(s:) |
Catherine Crump, John Reinstein |
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Agency(ies): |
American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU |
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Concerning: |
Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Jacob Appelbaum, a security researcher,Tor developer, and volunteer with Wikileaks, reported today on his Twitter feed that he was detained, searched, and questioned by the US Customs and Border Patrol agents at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on January 10, upon re-entering the US after a vacation in Iceland.
[...]
It's very frustrating that I have to put so much consideration into talking about the kind of harassment that I am subjected to in airports.
I was detained, searched, and CPB did attempt to question me about the nature of my vacation upon landing in Seattle.
The CPB specifically wanted lap tops and cell phones and were visibly unhappy when they discovered nothing of the sort.
I did however have a few USB thumb drives with a copy of the Bill of Rights encoded into the block device. They were unable to copy it.
The forensic specialist (who was friendly) explained that EnCase and FTK, with a write-blocker inline were unable to see the Bill of Rights.
I requested access my lawyer and was again denied. They stated I was I wasn't under arrest and so I was not able to contact my lawyer.
The CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) agent was waiting for me at the exit gate. Remember when it was our family and loved ones?
When I handed over my customs declaration form, the female agent was initially friendly. After pulling my record, she had a sour face.
She attempted to trick me by putting words into my mouth. She marked my card with a large box with the number 1 inside, sent me on my way.
While waiting for my baggage, I noticed the CBP agent watching me and of course after my bag arrived, I was 'randomly' selected for search.
Only US customs has random number generator worse than a mid-2007 Debian random number generator. Random? Hardly.
During the search, I made it quite clear that I had no laptop and no cell phone. Only USB drives with the Bill of Rights.
The CBP agent stated that I had posted on Twitter before my flight and that slip ended the debate about their random selection process.
The CBP agents in Seattle were nicer than ones in Newark. None of them implied I would be raped in prison for the rest of my life this time.
The CBP agent asked if the ACLU was really waiting. I confirmed the ACLU was waiting and they again denied me contact with legal help.
All in all, the detainment was around thirty minutes long. They all seemed quite distressed that I had no computer and no phone.
They were quite surprised to learn that Iceland had computers and that I didn't have to bring my own.
There were of course the same lies and threats that I received last time. They even complemented me on work done regarding China and Iran.
I think there's a major disconnect required to do that job and to also complement me on what they consider to be work against police states.
While it's true that Communist China has never treated me as badly as CBP, I know this isn't true for everyone who travels to China.
All in all, if you're going to be detained, searched, and harassed at the border in an extra-legal manner, I guess it's Seattle over Newark.
It took a great deal of thought before I posted about my experience because it honestly appears to make things worse for me in the future.
Even if it makes things worse for me, I refuse to be silent about state sponsored systematic detainment, searching, and harassment.
In case it is not abundantly clear: I have not been arrested, nor charged with any crime, nor indicted in any way. Land of the free? Hardly.
I'm only counting from the time that we opened my luggage until it was closed. The airport was basically empty when I left.
It's funny that the forensics guy uses EnCase. As it, like CBP, apparently couldn't find a copy of the Bill of Rights I dd'ed into the disk.
The forensics guy apparently enjoyed the photo with my homeboy Knuth and he was really quite kind. The forensics guy in Newark? Not so much.
The CBP agent asked me for data - was I bringing data into the country? Where was all my data from the trip? Names, numbers, receipts, etc.
The mental environment that this creates for traveling is intense. Nothing is assured, nothing is secure, and nothing provides escape.
I resisted the temptation to give them a disk filled with /dev/random because I knew that reading them the Bill of Rights was enough hassle.
I'm flying to Toronto, Canada for work on Sunday and back through Seattle again a few days later. Should be a joy to meet these guys again.
All of this impacts my ability to work and takes a serious emotional toll on me. It's absolutely unacceptable.
What happens if I take a device they can't image? They take it. What about the stuff they give back? Back doored? Who knows?
Does it void a warranty if your government inserts a backdoor into your computer or phone? It certainly voids the trust I have in all of it.
I dread US Customs more than I dreaded walking across the border from Turkey to Iraq in 2005. That's something worth noting.
I will probably never feel safe about traveling internationally with a computer or phones again.
None the less, safe or not, I won't stop working on Tor. Nor will I cease traveling. I will adapt and I will win. A hard road worth taking. |
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Name(s:) |
Jacob Appelbaum |
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Concerning: |
Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Parties
6. Defendant Janet Napolitano is the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security ('DHS'). Customs and Border Protection ('CBP') and Immigration and Customs Enforcement ('ICE') are agencies of the U.S. government within DHS. As head of DHS, Secretary Napolitano has authority over all DHS policies, procedures, and practices related to border searches. Defendant Napolitano is sued in her official capacity.
7. Defendant Alan Bersin is Commissioner of CBP, and as such has authority over all CBP policies, procedures, and practices related to border searches. Defendant Bersin is sued in his official capacity.
8. Defendant John T. Morton is the Director of ICE, and as such has authority over all ICE policies, procedures, and practices relating to border searches. Defendant Morton is sued in his official capacity.' (Source: David House v. JANET NAPOLITANO, in her official capacity as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; ALAN BERSIN, in his official capacity as Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection; JOHN T. MORTON, in his official capacity as Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
'12. Plaintiff David House is a computer programmer and researcher who resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Following Manning's arrest, Plaintiff and others joined together in June 2010 to establish the Bradley Manning Support Network ('Support Network'). The Support Network is an unincorporated association of individuals and organizations which describes itself as an 'international grassroots effort to help accused whistle blower Pfc. Bradley Manning.
[...]
Following the formation of the Support Network [June 2010], Plaintiff has been visited and questioned, both at his home and place of work in Cambridge, by investigators for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Plaintiff has been placed on a watch list which has resulted in his being stopped for questioning and searched each time that he enters the United States following foreign travel. Beginning in September 2010, Plaintiff has been detained for questioning at the border on each of seven occasions he has reentered the United States after foreign travel and is routinely questioned on those occasions about his work with the Support Network or his political beliefs and activities'. |
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Name(s:) |
Catherine Crump, John Reinstein |
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Agency(ies): |
American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU |
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Concerning: |
Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/xW1ch |
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The cofounder of a group supporting an Army private accused of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks filed a federal lawsuit today accusing the Department of Homeland Security of violating his civil rights by seizing his laptop without a warrant when he passed through security at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.
David House, 24, a former MIT researcher from Cambridge, alleges in the suit filed in US District Court in Boston that federal agents seized his laptop, USB storage device, video camera, and cellphone when he arrived at the airport on Nov. 3 after a vacation in Mexico, then kept him from catching a connecting flight to Boston while they interrogated him about his association with Private First Class Bradley Manning.
The suit, filed on House's behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union, says House 'was asked no questions relating to border control, customs, trade, immigration, or terrorism,' yet agents kept his laptop, USB device, and camera for 49 days while they reviewed personal and private information as part of an investigation into his work for the Bradley Manning Support Network. The electronics were returned to him Dec. 22, a day after the ACLU faxed a letter to government officials demanding their immediate return.
'If the government had legitimate reason for wanting to seize my laptop ... they could obtain a warrant,' House said during a telephone interview. 'Instead they wait for me to cross the border so they can claim this nebulous authority.'
He accused the government of launching a 'fishing expedition' in an effort to find out who was supporting Manning and said it has had a chilling impact on his group's legal efforts to raise money for Manning because supporters fear they will also be targeted by the government. Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, has been imprisoned by the military for a year on charges of leaking classified information about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that were posted on WikiLeaks
Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, declined to comment on the suit, saying, 'As a matter of policy, we do not comment on pending litigation.'
Federal agents routinely search lap tops of travelers entering and leaving the country at airports and other border crossings. The government maintains it's the same as searching suitcases and is done to protect national security.
The suit alleges that House was targeted by the government solely because of his association with the Bradley Manning Support Network, which raises funds for Manning's legal defense.
'Targeting people for searches and seizures based on their lawful associations is unconstitutional,' said Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts.
The suit alleges that the government violated House's First Amendment right to freedom of association and Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. It seeks the return or destruction of any of House's personal data that is still being held by the government and urges the court to order the Department of Homeland Security to disclose whether it has shared the information with other agencies.' |
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Name(s:) |
Martin Finucane |
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Title: |
Journalist |
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Agency(ies): |
boston.com |
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Concerning: |
Border Searches, Grand Jury, Search and Seizure |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/xW1ch |
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