this post was submitted on 12 May 2025
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Hasan Piker, the biggest progressive political streamer in America, was detained by Customs and Border Protection for hours of questioning upon returning to the U.S. from a trip to France this weekend. Piker posted about the incident on X and later talked about it on stream.

He was detained in Chiago and questioned for two hours about protected journalistic activities like who he’s interviewed and his political beliefs. He was asked whether or not he’d interviewed Hamas, Houthis, or Hezbollah members. He was questioned about his opinions on Trump and Israel and asked about his history of bans on Twitch. His phone and laptop were not confiscated.

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[–] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 57 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Any comment that has to point out his politics or "concerns with him" is completely missing the point.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 24 points 1 day ago

Yeah, it's disgusting that people's first reaction to someone being unjustly detained is that.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 52 points 2 days ago (16 children)

progressive

Pretty sure dude is a leftist. Capitalist media has never encountered this before.

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[–] shaserlark@sh.itjust.works 73 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

Never heard of this guy but must have hit a nerve if a whole Hasbara brigade is showing up here to trash talk him.

That being said, it’s an interesting turn of events that apparently units around immigration take the role of Gestapo. Makes a lot of sense given what types of people would even want to do such a job but it’s still not what I expected when they said fascism is coming back.

[–] DrDickHandler@lemmy.world 56 points 2 days ago

Right wing groups have been targeting him for his support of Palestine and being critical of Israel.

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[–] mrodri89@lemmy.zip 31 points 2 days ago

It's too bad they didn't let him stream it. That would've been peak content.

[–] arifinhiding@feddit.org 37 points 2 days ago (5 children)

The questioning (though harmless) is often a stepping stone to more drastic measures. In the place where I live (not the US), my local religious police does questioning to make sure that activists are not posting their status online. This sort of measure helps them evade accountability and keeps the general public in ignorance.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

This is what happens when you gut education, the "regular people" observing this no longer have the historical context of what this shit actually means in the scheme of things during an ongoing fascist takeover. "What's wrong with them just asking questions to make sure he's not a terrorist?"

So they let it happen, and in many cases, even cheer it on.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 58 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

The questioning (though harmless)

There's nothing "harmless" about kidnapping people and coercing them into an interrogation.

This sort of measure helps them evade accountability and keeps the general public in ignorance.

Yep, that's some of the harm.

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[–] goodeye8@fedia.io 259 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Is anyone surprised? This isn't a jab at Hasan, it's just a reminder that fascists will crack down on opponents. The likes of Hasan will be deliberately targeted until they've been silenced one way or another, and then they'll come for you.

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[–] LaLaLa@ani.social 250 points 2 days ago (119 children)

No fan of Hasan, but this shouldn't be happening to anyone.

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[–] demizerone@lemmy.world 131 points 2 days ago (7 children)

Remember folks, it starts with the leftists, then it doesn't stop until we lose for good. Every 80 years.

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[–] Sylence@lemmy.dbzer0.com 109 points 2 days ago

Crazy that in his stream with FD a few weeks ago he was adamant that he'd be one of the last people impacted by the immigration/border control nonsense.

I think it just goes to show how, even otherwise well informed people, can underestimate how much fascism will impact them personally. It can be easy to distance yourself until it is in your face, placing you in cuffs, or forcible removing you from your home. I hope he learns a lesson from this experience.

[–] HalfSalesman@lemm.ee 16 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I have a like/dislike perspective on Hasan Piker.

Hes tankie-lite. Critical support for him in this case though, fuck ICE.

Its probably an indicator that I really need to touch grass that I'm primarily curious what Ethan Klein and Lonerbox think of this.

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[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 142 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

Pathetic, and for the record Hasan would interview Hamas, because interviewing someone is not an endorsement of someone if you aren't a piece of shit fraud like the members of the Trump administration who treat interviews as theater to spread propaganda with no evidence are.

Assuming someone interviewing someone you consider a threat is thus by association a threat of the same kind is a shockingly dangerous precendent to set and basically spells out the extinction of a free press in no uncertain terms.

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