Twitch streamer Hasan Piker detained at the border and questioned for hours over politics
www.usermag.co
"They straight up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently"

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.

  • Deceptichum@quokk.auMEnglish
    153·
    1 day ago

    Thanks.

    Okay, so I’ve had a bit of a read. First off there is nothing to directly ‘confirm’ he supports terrorists, at best/worst he ‘has “no issue” with Hezbollah’ and he interviewed someone labeled the ‘Yemeni Pirate’ who went viral on TikTok leading to the aforementioned interview. This figure says they are not part of the Houthi, but they were on a vessel seized by the Houthi, he could simply be a paid mercenary so we can’t confirm or deny if they actually are Houthi.

    The Jewish stuff isn’t worth touching. It’s 100% going to be something critical of Israel/Zionism framed as antisemitism or terrorism.

    Mocking a Republican congressman and thanking the opposing side of the US invasion of Afghanistan for injuring them isn’t terrorism, it’s just funny af. Fuck Republicans.

    I’ve received a fair few reports for your posts tbh in regards to false accusations, but the Yemeni guy thing is a bit iffy, and he may have used his platform to promote a terrorist. So I’m going to leave it all up.

    • sqgl@beehaw.org
      12·
      7 hours ago

      Going out of his way to declare “No issue with Hezbollah” is the equivalent of support for terrorism IMO.

      They started the whole suicide bombing thing with their killing of American soldiers in Lebanon. This went against Islam, but was given the green light by Ayatollah Khomeni and was weaponised by Assad.

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr7T07WfIhM&amp%3Bt=32m32s

      I Imagine you would not be defending someone if they were going around saying they have “no issue with pedos”.

      • Deceptichum@quokk.auMEnglish
        2·
        7 hours ago

        I don’t view it any differently to someone saying they have “no issue with America”. America has done unimaginable crimes against humanity, far worse than Hezbollah, but I suspect you give them more leeway; That’s the real hypernormalisation.

        • sqgl@beehaw.org
          12·
          6 hours ago

          Hezbollah have only one reason for existing: terrorism.

          USA is guilty of its own terrorism but that is not the reason for its existence.

          That documentary doesn’t give anyone a free pass. If you have not heard of Adam Curtis, you are in for a treat.

          • Deceptichum@quokk.auMEnglish
            2·
            6 hours ago

            Hezbollah’s 1985 manifesto outlined its key objectives, which include expelling Western influence from the region, destroying Israel, pledging allegiance to Iran’s supreme leader, and establishing an Islamic government influenced by Iran’s political ideology. However, the manifesto also emphasized Lebanese self-determination.

            […]

            In 2009, Hezbollah updated their manifesto to oppose political sectarianism, appeal to non-Islamic movements, and promote a national unity government. The updated manifesto has the same basic approach to foreign policy, emphasizing the hegemonic strategies of the US and Israel’s role in the region as a forward base for colonizing the region.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah

            That’s a cartoon level of motivation, to say that they only exist to terrorise is clearly not the case.

            Or is Wikipedia promoting terrorism?

            • sqgl@beehaw.org
              11·
              5 hours ago

              Each of those goals are pursued by means of terrorism.

              There were people pursuing those goals before Hezbollah existed. AFAIK they merely added the tool of terrorism.

              Am not an expert in this field. If someone is and can take us deeper I would appreciate it.

    • BlackLaZoR@fedia.io
      32·
      1 day ago

      Thank you for small dose of sanity, even if I don’t agree with your interpretation of Hasans claims