Hasan Piker arrested by CBP while returning to the country of France

Hasan Piker, a streamer and online political commentator, was arrested for several hours by customs and border protection officers during the weekend and asked him main questions about what President Donald Trump and Hezbollah thought, among other issues, he said.

Piker discussed the surprise arrest in a current Monday afternoon on Twitch, telling his almost 3 million followers who was interrogated at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago after returning from a trip to France.

“Literally, they tried to get something direct from me that I think they could basically use to stop me permanently,” he said.

“I kept asking again and again, Hamas, Houthis, all this shit, trying to say: ‘Oh, do you support them, do you like? What do you think of them?'”

Piker admitted that he probably “moved away” more than it was in his own interest because he hoped to shorten the arrest, and also because he wanted to see what kind of information they were looking for.

“Instead of asking for the fifth as I should do in situations like this, I kept giving him answers,” he said.

“Knowing very well that they know exactly what they are looking for, I saw no reason to contain certain things, so I said: ‘I don’t like Trump. What are you going to do? He is protected by the first amendment … [Trump] He said he was going to finish wars. Wars are not over. What happens to shit with that? ‘

Piker said he was preparing for the officer to ask for his phone. In preparation, he had deactivated the identification of the face on his iPhone and configured it to use only an access code to unlock, that CBP officers cannot legally force it to provide if it is detained.

Paul Archuleta through Getty Images

However, they never asked for the device.

Reflecting on his arrest, Piker said he suspects it was a deliberate attempt to sow fear in the media.

“The reason they are doing is, I think, try to create an atmosphere of fear,” he said. “Try to get people like me, or at least others who would be in my shoes that do not have that same level of security, to shut up.”

Later he called him “completely idiotic and ridiculous [tactic] Without knowing that I am a piece of shit, and that will not work at all. “

A Customs spokesman and border protection confirmed to News themezone that Piker had been “referred to an additional inspection,” but said “states that his political belief triggered the inspection has no foundation.”

“Our officers are following the law, not the agendas,” CBP said in a statement sent by email. “Upon entering the country, this individual was sent for an additional inspection: a routine and legal process that occurs daily and can request any traveler. Once his inspection was completed, he was immediately released.”

While Piker can be the highest profile person stopped by CBP upon his return to the United States, he is far from being the only one.

In April, Amir Makled, a lawyer who represents a Pro-Palestinian student protester, was arrested at Detroit Metro airport on his way back to a spring vacation trip abroad with his family.

Makled told News themezone at that time that federal agents did He took advantage of his phone, although he remained firm in the middle of the arrest of 90 minutes by arguing that, as a lawyer, his phone contained privileged information related to work.

“I don’t know if it was an expedition of fishing or not,” he told News themezone. “My instinct tells me that they were trying to see who I was associating with. But there is no real way to say it.”

Piker did not immediately respond to a request for comments.