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University Rescinds Job Offer to Activist Who Allegedly Wiped Phone Before DHS Could Search It (www.404media.co)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
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Georgia State University has rescinded a job offer given to a high profile activist who is currently fighting a case in which he allegedly wiped a security-focused Android phone before Customs and Border Protection (CBP) could search it. The case, which 404 Media first covered and has now received widespread and national attention, has important ramifications for privacy and when someone can still be charged with an offense even if authorities don’t have suspicion of any specific crime.

Earlier this month, activist Samuel Tunick and a group of supporters delivered a “demand letter” to the university. That letter, which Tunick shared with 404 Media, says he explained to the university he was facing a pending charge, which he describes as “an instance of textbook political repression, and a high profile civil liberties case.”

While delivering the letter, supporters held signs saying, “GSU sides with Trump,” and “Digital Privacy Under Attack!”

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[–] 55 points 1 month ago (6 children)

For those who aren't involved in university politics, it looks from the article like this happened:

  1. The department and its chair/head, the people who would work with him, were fine with him as a colleague.

  2. The university president did a heavy-handed top-down move to ban him

Almost any time you see "University Does X" in a headline, replace "university" with the name of the president. College presidents and their provosts, various VPs, Deans, etc. are incredibly Trumpy in behavior. They think of themselves as liberals because they were often faculty working in liberal departments. However, once they put on the suit and start throwing around business jargon they almost all begin doing exactly the things to their universities that MAGA does to the nation, often in the same ways.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

    Almost any time you see "University Does X" in a headline, replace "university" with the name of the president board of trustees.

    President is just a PR and day to day operations person typically, there to catch flak from students with no real power.

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