Leftwing pundit Hasan Piker says US border agents stopped and questioned him on Trump and Gaza

[groundloop]

Source: The Guardian

Hasan Piker, a US-born progressive political commentator, said he was stopped by US Customs and Border Protection agents and questioned about his opinions of Donald Trump and Israeli war policy as he returned to the country on Sunday from France.

Piker, recounting the incident on his Twitch livestream on Monday, said he was led to a private room at Chicago O’Hare airport and interviewed for nearly two hours about his political views.

“The goal here is to put fear into people’s hearts, to have a chilling effect on speech that, like, the government is unafraid of intimidating you,” Piker said. “Does this stop me from saying whatever the fuck I want to say? Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. But the reason why I wanted to talk about it was to give you more insight into what the government is doing, and to speak out against this sort of stuff.”

The leftwing streamer has built a mass following on YouTube and Twitch around his blend of political, cultural and social commentary. Piker, born in New Jersey, was carrying a US passport when he re-entered the US on Sunday, after a trip to France with his family to celebrate Mother’s Day.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/12/hasan-piker-border-trump-gaza

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

1. So "progressive" is left wing now?

To my mind it's barely centrist. What a country.

[iemanja]

7. It's relative

Obviously it’s to the left of Trump. Don’t act like there is anything new about describing progressives as on the left. They certainly believe they are.

[SunSeeker]

2. Sickening. 2 fucking hours of interrogation of a US citizen with no criminal record!

It is none of their business what he thinks of Trump!

How is this not a civil rights violation, 42 USC 1983?

[2naSalit]

3. The thought police have been active for a while...

I'm glad that people are making their experiences public.

[Martin68]

4. This is wrong on so many levels. He should sue.

[IronLionZion]

5. He was born in the US and has US citizenship

but they don't like his liberal political views. He's well prepared for questioning but an average American might slip under pressure and have consequences.

[bernieb]

6. No, no, no, no, No!

They want us to be afraid. This is certainly a civil rights violation.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

8. So what should he/we do in this situation?

Can we take the fifth? Can they refuse us readmission? I am currently out of the US and will visit sometime in the future. My wife is visiting now and was concerned about getting stopped and questioned.

I do wonder if there is proof the CPB knew who the man was. I have not heard of him. His picture and name might be enough for agents looking for brown people who might "support" Hamas to harass. So, a generally bad thing rather than a targeted one.