Popular Twitch streamer and political commentator

Hasan Piker

The individual, boasting over 2 million followers on the live-streaming platform, mentioned being held and interrogated by federal agents at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for over two hours upon his arrival from an overseas trip.

This occurred when Piker, aged 33, was en route to address the University of Chicago on Sunday following his return from a family holiday in Paris. Piker, a well-known Turkish-American livestreamer known for publicly denouncing the conflict, was heading towards this engagement.


Gaza


He informed the audience at the Institute of Politics located at the University of Chicago that he thinks he was singled out at O’Hare due to his criticisms of the Trump administration.

No video of the interaction has surfaced — but Piker had some specific claims about his interaction with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.

“They led me to a back room at what turned out to be a detention facility. Then an agent escorted me into another room for questioning where they began asking me absurd questions such as whether I liked Donald Trump,” he explained.

The Twitch personality and progressive pundit, who hails from America, detailed extensively to his numerous subscribers an interaction lasting two hours with federal officials upon his arrival in Chicago from Paris. According to him, they probed not just into matters concerning the president but also sought information regarding his views on various topics.


Israel, Hamas


and the


Houthi rebels in Yemen


.

All that I have done is completely shielded by the First Amendment, alright?” Piker stated. “Besides, none of these inquiries are really legitimate questions to pose.

Piker stated that this holds true regardless of one’s political views.

They aren’t allowed to inquire about such matters; denying me entry to my homeland would be against the law,” Piker stated. “Even if I were to say, ‘I support Hamas,’ they wouldn’t have the authority to take action. What exactly do they mean by this?

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin acknowledged that Piker was detained, but took issue with his account of what happened.

McLaughlin said: “This is nothing but lying for likes. Claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless. Our officers are following the law, not agendas.”

Piker, claiming he possesses Global Entry, which is the CBP initiative designed for pre-approved and low-risk travelers, responded to McLaughlin’s remarks during a live stream on Tuesday.

He stated, ‘They readily acknowledge that it happened, correct?’ He added, ‘The claim that I’m fabricating this for likes is quite humorous since they don’t even refute that it occurred (or) dispute that it was politically motivated.’

CBS News Chicago took the issue to legal analyst Irv Miller, who said the location is important here.

“I suspect because this happened in an airport — an entry point into the country — that there were cameras everywhere,” Miller said.

Miller said international travelers do give up certain Fourth Amendment rights to search and seizure — but there is a line.

“Immigration has an absolute right to ask you who you are, and to see your identification — but they don’t have a right to ask you questions and demand answers of things other than your identity and your citizenship,” Miller said.

Miller said travelers always have a Fifth Amendment right to stay silent, but acknowledged that doing so has practical problems. Anyone who stays silent may be held longer, particularly at a time when border enforcement is an administration priority.

“The government is trying to be tougher. It is trying to be more invasive, and it’s getting close to that line whether or not something is constitutional or not constitutional,” said Miller, “and it always ends up in the courts.”

Miller said he tells clients to go with the flow until they feel uncomfortable, at which point they can ask for a supervisor.

Piker said Tuesday that he was answering some of the questions while he was detained, instead of choosing to stay silent, because he wanted to see the line of questioning. He was released and has since returned to Los Angeles.