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Feds: We're Pulling Data From 100 Phones Seized During Trump Inauguration (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: In new filings, prosecutors told a court in Washington, DC that within the coming weeks, they expect to extract all data from the seized cellphones of more than 100 allegedly violent protesters arrested during the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Prosecutors also said that this search is validated by recently issued warrants. The court filing, which was first reported Wednesday by BuzzFeed News, states that approximately half of the protestors prosecuted with rioting or inciting a riot had their phones taken by authorities. Prosecutors hope to uncover any evidence relevant to the case. Under normal judicial procedures, the feds have vowed to share such data with defense attorneys and to delete all irrelevant data. "All of the Rioter Cell Phones were locked, which requires more time-sensitive efforts to try to obtain the data," Jennifer Kerkhoff, an assistant United States attorney, wrote. Such phone extraction is common by law enforcement nationwide using hardware and software created by Cellebrite and other similar firms. Pulling data off phones is likely more difficult under fully updated iPhones and Android devices.
became violent protestors during his inauguration? WTF did the man even say?
More than a burner, they should coordinate their burners. Load them up with tantalizing information that wastes a ton of investigation time, but being careful not to have any actual prosecutor conspiracies.
Use burners with known weaknesses or backdoors and set them up with passcodes or weak encryption so they look legitimate but are easily broken with diagnostic software.
Emails about stuff supposedly buried in parks, or sunk in lakes at specific GPS coordinates. Treasure-map fantasies. Rent a storage space and decorate it with Independence Day decorations, but make it sound like it's full of anarchist equipment.
Bonus points if you can capture video streams of the Feds digging up a park or walking into a storage locker filled with decorations.
If you did it right, they might get tired of grabbing phones with the idea that they won't know which ones have real solid info and which ones will leave them chasing their tails.
Anne Frank's diary was written long after the end of WWII, using a ballpoint pen (which wasn't invented until after WWII)
That is holocaust denialist BS that has been debunked:
Anne wrote the body of her diary with a fountain pen. The only things written in ballpoint pen ink are two loose notes written by someone else and put with the papers later and some page numbers written on the sheets during the compilation process.
There is a long history of neo-Nazis trying to discredit Anne's diaries, so in 1963 her defenders tracked down the arresting officer that led the raid on their hideout. He corroborated nearly everything that Anne's father had said.
Setting fires to cars and smashing windows is not a "protest".
You would think criminals would already know to use burner phones...
But then how would these gangsters be able to adequately send a selfie to Instagram in front of a smashed up store or burning vehicle? The cameras on burner phones suck, not to mention it would't have your Starbucks card loaded.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I really do not see that much of an issue with this.
The government got a warrant to search the electronic devices. These devices were seized at the time of arrest. Rather than require the owners to unlock the phones - potentially violating our protected right against self-incrimination - they are using third-party software to hack the devices. The government intends - admittedly, as legally required - to share all gathered information with the defense lawyers - and are pledging to delete any information not relevant to the case.
You can make the argument that some of the people arrested during the riots are innocent. That may be true, but irrelevant to the issue at hand: that the government is searching these devices. You might argue that the government may use the information gleaned from the devices in ways that are not covered by the warrant, and that is a legitimate worry but there is no evidence that is happening. But given that these people were arrested, we should expect the prosecutors to use all available legal means to build a case against the defendants. That they are searching the phones is as much a story if the police had gotten a warrant to seize the defendants diaries (which is to say, not much of a story) .
The fact is, there were apparently riots during the inauguration. I am no supporter of Trump but that's just shameful; there's nothing wrong with assembly and protest but some people went beyond that. People were arrested and honestly I would expect the government to try them for their actions. There is a lot I find worrisome about Trump's government, but this is not one of them; this is a case where everything seems to be done legitimately and by-the-book.
Neo-Nazi B.S. de-bunked by an actual ex-Nazi!
Actually, most Neo-Nazi BS is best debunked by actual Nazis. "The Holocaust never happened" is thoroughly debunked by Nazi testimony at Nuremberg. The defenses fell in one of two categories:
1. Yes, I killed people, but I was just following orders, so I am not responsible.
2. Yes, I gave orders, but I didn't actually kill anyone myself, so I am not responsible.
But NONE of them use the defense, or ever claimed, that the killings didn't happen, or that the death camps didn't exist. No one claimed that until many years later.