Hasan Piker, a US-born progressive political commentator, said he was stopped by US Customs and Border Protection agents and questioned about his opinions of Donald Trump and Israeli war policy as he returned to the country on Sunday from France.
Piker, recounting the incident on his Twitch live stream on Monday, said he was led to a private room at Chicago O’Hare airport and interviewed for nearly two hours about his political views.
“The goal here is to put fear into people’s hearts, to have a chilling effect on speech that, like, the government is unafraid of intimidating you,” Piker said. “Does this stop me from saying whatever the fuck I want to say? Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. But the reason why I wanted to talk about it was to give you more insight into what the government is doing, and to speak out against this sort of stuff.”
The leftwing streamer has built a mass following on YouTube and Twitch around his blend of political, cultural and social commentary. Piker, born in New Jersey, was carrying a US passport when he re-entered the US on Sunday, after a trip to France with his family to celebrate Mother’s Day.
“I think they did it because they know who the fuck I am, and they wanted to put the fear of God into me,” Piker said.
“This is nothing but lying for likes,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “Claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless. Our officers are following the law, not agendas.”
She added: “Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection – a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler. Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released.”
A CBP official called the suggestion that Piker was targeted for his political views “baseless”.
Piker repeatedly described the exchange as “cordial” but said he was transparent with the officer interviewing him that he planned to speak out about his experience, which the streamer said felt anything but random and “routine”.
Assuming the officer was familiar with his online commentary, Piker said he was candid about his views, telling the agent he was “not fond” of the US president.
He said the officer was particularly focused on his criticism of Israel’s prosecution of the Gaza war, asking him: “Do you like Hamas? Like, do you support Hamas? Do you think Hamas is a resistance group?”
In response, Piker said he told the officer that he was a “pacifist” and wanted “the endless bloodshed to end”.
“I just kept repeating that over and over again,” he said, describing the line of questioning as “insane” and a violation of his first amendment rights.
Piker said this was his first attempt to return to the US using the global entry program, which normally expedites travel. He was returning to the US to speak on Monday at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.
Piker said neither his phone nor laptop were searched. He said the interview ended shortly after he asked whether he was being detained or if he was free to go. The officer told him he had not been detained, but Piker described it as a de facto detention.
Chip Gibbons, the policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent, said in a statement: “We are deeply disturbed that CBP is stopping political commentators at the border to interrogate them about first amendment-protected activities. Such an abuse of power is an affront to press freedom.”
Alex Peter, an attorney and popular online creator who shares content about the American judicial system, wrote: “DHS flagging and detaining one of the US’s largest leftwing voices for their political opinions while the Trump admin suggests they might suspend habeas corpus does not portend well for the future.”
