Turkish American streamer questioned by US border agents over his political views

WASHINGTON

Turkish American Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker said Monday that he was stopped and questioned by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents upon returning from France and was asked about his political views.

Piker, a vocal critic of Israel’s brutal war on Gaza and a prominent progressive commentator in the US, said during a livestream that he was taken to a private room at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Sunday and questioned for nearly two hours.

Piker, who streams on Twitch under the name “HasanAbi,”​​​​​​​ recounted the experience.

He said the officers asked him whether he supported the Palestinian group Hamas, Lebanese group Hezbollah or Yemen’s Houthis and pressed him on his views about President Donald Trump and the Israeli government.

One of the officers “kept saying stuff like, ‘Do you like Hamas? Do you support Hamas? Do you think Hamas is a terrorist group or a resistance group?’" he said, adding that he repeatedly stated that he is a pacifist who is "on the side of civilians" and wants "the endless bloodshed to end."

"They literally straight up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently, which is insane, because there is no direct connection or direct involvement," Piker told his audience.

Piker, who was born in New Jersey and is a US citizen, said he feared the questioning was politically motivated and aimed at intimidating criticism.

“Obviously, the reason for why they're doing that is, I think, to try to create an environment of fear,” he said.

He also said the agents questioned him about his Twitch bans and suggested some of the questions posed could have legal implications depending on how he responded.

“In the second part of the conversation, there were some real actionable items that he presented. Depending on how I answered those questions, like, I'm going to jail,” Piker said.

"And he basically said, you know, you can figure out what not to do so that this doesn’t happen again. And I suspect the what-not-to-do is just don’t be a political commentator that speaks about American foreign policy, which is not something I’m planning on stopping,” he said.

"I think the goal here is to put fear into people's hearts, to have a chilling effect on speech."

Piker said he was en route to the University of Chicago to speak at the school when he was stopped.

A CBP official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Anadolu that claims that the inspection was triggered by political beliefs are "baseless."

"Our officers are following the law, not agendas," the official said.

"Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection -- a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler. Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released," the official added.

Piker is enrolled in the Global Entry program, which is designed to speed up customs processing for low-risk travelers.