Stockton mayor was briefly detained on return flight from China
Last edited Fri Oct 2, 2015, 09:26 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
The mayor of Stockton was briefly detained and had two of his laptops and a cell phone confiscated by homeland security agents at the San Francisco International Airport earlier this week after returning from a trip to China.
Mayor Anthony R. Silva, who was elected in November 2012, had traveled to China for a mayor’s conference, he said in a statement. Upon his return home on Monday, Silva was briefly detained by Department of Homeland Security agents and had his belongings searched, he said.
“A few minutes later, DHS agents confiscated all my electronic devices including my personal cell phone. Unfortunately, they were not willing or able to produce a search warrant or any court documents suggesting they had a legal right to take my property. In addition, they were persistent about requiring my passwords for all devices,” Silva said.
... The mayor said the agents told him confiscating property from travelers at the airport was “in fact routine and not unusual,” and promised to return the items within a few days. Silva was also told he had “no right for a lawyer to be present” and that being a U.S. citizen did not “entitle me to rights that I probably thought.”
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Stockton-mayor-was-briefly-detained-on-return-6546419.php
UPDATE with new information:
Stockton mayor's detention linked to ongoing probe
Mayor Anthony Silva’s brief detention this week by federal agents at San Francisco International Airport was tied to an ongoing investigation into Stockton’s top elected official, according to two sources with links to law enforcement.
“It was not a random stop,” one source said of Silva’s detention by federal agents as he returned to the United States after a trip with other mayors to China. Both sources spoke on the condition of anonymity.
... Silva, who plans to run for a second term in 2016, said during a brief interview late Friday afternoon that if he has been under investigation, he is not aware of it. But he admitted he is beginning to wonder.
Read more: http://www.recordnet.com/article/20151002/NEWS/151009924
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Last edited Fri Oct 2, 2015, 10:12 PM - Edit history (1)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141221627The United States is pulling spies from China as a result of a cyberattack that compromised the personal data of 21.5 million government workers...
Maybe they're trying to determine if his equipment was used in some way -- by the hackers, I mean. Remember that business with Rupert Murdoch being accused of hacking into cell phones?
rocktivity
