Federal agents arrest activist on evidence destruction charge

Federal agents arrested activist Samuel Tunick in Atlanta Tuesday evening on a charge of destruction of evidence.

Tunick pleaded not guilty to the charge before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Georgia Russell G. Vineyard on Wednesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Corrico on January 4, 2025, Tunick used a code to wipe the contents of his Google Pixel phone during a search by Customs and Border Patrol Tactical Terrorism Response Team officer.

Corrico said there was video and photographic evidence of the incident. 

Tunick was indicted by a grand jury on Nov. 13. An arrest warrant was issued the same day. He was arrested almost a month later during a traffic stop in Atlanta. A press release issued by Tunick’s supporters said he was “asked to step out of the cart to observe an issue with the tail light. He was suddenly handcuffed by the officer and surrounded by the FBI and DHS.”

Tunick is an Atlanta-based activist and musician. He graduated from Oberlin College. His friends say he is an active part of the urban farming and Jewish communities in Atlanta. 

“The arrest is totally baseless,” Kamau Franklin, executive director of Community Movement Builders, said in a press release issued before Wednesday’s hearing. “The Trump administration is using political prosecution to distract from growing unpopularity in the polls, defections within the GOP, and a persistent high cost of living.”

The prosecution did not seek pretrial detention, and Tunick was released shortly after Wednesday’s hearing. About a dozen friends, activists and supporters sat behind Tunick in the courtroom.

One of Tunick’s supporters told ACPC that Tunick’s arrest is another instance of continuing repression against Atlanta-area activists in the wake of the multi-year protest movement against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, better known as ‘Cop City.’ 

The Guardian reported in February that surveillance cameras hidden in utility boxes mounted on light poles had begun appearing outside the homes of ‘Cop City’ activists. In other instances, activists have been pulled over after leaving an organizing event with Fire Ant Movement Defense. In March, Atlanta police officers “harassed” attendees at a fundraiser for formerly-incarcerated Black Panther Dhoruba Bin-Wahad, who is battling lung cancer.