Hasan Piker's CBP Detention Marks Another Trump-Era Attack on Free Speech

"The reason they're doing this is to try to create an environment of fear, to try to get people like myself...to shut the fuck up," said Hasan Piker.

Hasan Piker, a Turkish-American online streamer with 4.6 million followers across Twitch and YouTube, was detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) upon reentering the United States at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago earlier this week. Piker believes he was targeted for expressing support for Hamas and criticizing President Donald Trump on his livestreaming platforms.

Piker said he was returning from a trip to France through Global Entry—a security check program available to low-risk citizens—when he was asked to "step aside" by CBP. He was then taken to a detention area within the airport and later questioned by a CBP agent regarding his opinions on Trump, Hamas, and his choice of interview guests. After two hours of detainment, he was released and allowed to enter the country. 

Piker discussed the incident on a Twitch stream, saying he believes it was an attempt to create a chilling effect on those who speak out against the Trump administration. "They straight up tried to get something out of me that they could use to basically detain me permanently," he said.

According to Piker, the CBP agent "kept saying stuff like, 'Do you like Hamas?' 'Do you support Hamas?' 'Do you think Hamas is a terror group or a resistance group?'" To which Piker replied, "I'm on the side of civilians. I want the endless bloodshed to end. I am a pacifist. I want the wars to end."

Piker wasn't completely surprised by this turn of events, given that political activists and commentators challenging the Trump administration's policies on Israel are experiencing increased scrutiny. "The reason they're doing this is to try to create an environment of fear, to try to get people like myself, or others who would be in my shoes that don't have the same level of security, to shut the fuck up," said Piker. 

"I think they detained me because they know who the fuck I am and they wanted to put the fear of God into me, not knowing that I'm a stubborn piece of shit and that's not going to work at all," Piker added.

Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), made a statement on X regarding Piker's detainment: "Lying for 'likes.' Claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless." She claimed that CBP officers are "following the law, not agendas." 

This isn't the first time the Trump administration has gone after people for constitutionally protected speech. Since coming into office, the president has issued 18 executive orders implicating First Amendment rights, and "many target expression based on viewpoint—a quintessential violation of the First Amendment," according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. These orders give enforcement powers to 20 separate federal agencies, including the DHS, and are "aimed at punishing enemies for speech, imposing governmental orthodoxy regarding race, gender, and other matters, and controlling the distribution of information." 

These agency powers are being used. One example is Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University graduate student, who was arrested on March 25 after the DHS claimed she was "engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans." Ozturk, who holds a student visa and is not an American citizen, was held for more than six weeks before a federal judge ordered her immediate release. The judge said Ozturk's arrest raised serious due process and First Amendment concerns, and her continued detention "potentially chills the speech of millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens."  

But Americans' speech is also under threat—including Piker's, who is using his platform to push for strong First Amendment protections. "Nothing I have done online is illegal as of now. Laws may change in the future, and they might actually start prosecuting speech, which I do fear is the goal of this administration. But so far, everything I've done is fully protected under the First Amendment," Piker said.