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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Julia Carrie Wong

‘Don’t yap to cops’: why Hasan Piker’s US customs story kicked off a backlash

Hasan Piker CBP United States Donald Trump ACLU Nathan Freed Wessler Police
a man speaks into a microphone in front of computer monitors
Hasan Piker: ‘Instead of immediately lawyering up I was like, “No I’m going to entertain this. I’m going to see what they actually are trying to get out of this.”’ Photograph: Mauricio Miranda via AP

When Hasan Piker was stopped and questioned about his political views by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at Chicago’s O’Hare airport last Sunday, the popular leftwing streamer thought he knew exactly what their motive was. “Obviously the reason for why they’re doing that is, I think, to try to create an environment of fear,” he told his legion of fans on a Twitch stream in which he described his ordeal. “To try to get people like myself … to shut the fuck up.”

But the decision by Piker – a 33-year-old US citizen – to entertain the agents’ questions for nearly two hours has some of the self-described socialist’s fans and allies questioning why he didn’t do just that.

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