Are We Marching Toward The Militarization Of Policing In America?

America risks becoming no different from communist-era dictatorships, where dissenters quietly disappeared and peaceful protests were crushed by battle tanks.

Janet Levy | August 26, 2026

In January 2025, customs agents at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport stopped activist Samuel Tunick upon his return from the Dominican Republic. During the search, they demanded access to his cellphone. He refused, but when pressured, he used a duress password to wipe all data and protect his privacy.

During the arrest, Tunick was not advised of his Miranda rights. He was also denied the right to call a lawyer, despite four requests. He has no criminal record, yet the FBI and DHS became involved in his case. Officers said they suspected he had child pornography on his phone, a claim later retracted. Indicted by a federal grand jury for destroying digital content to impede an investigation, he faces five years in prison.

Tunick and his lawyers believe he is being harassed for protesting the recent completion of the Weelaunee (or South River) Forest in Atlanta. He is active in the Stop Cop City movement, also known as the Defend the Atlanta Forest movement. Many others involved in these protests have been arrested or charged.

The crackdown has been disproportionately severe. In 2023, 61 people were indicted under Georgia’s RICO Act, which is meant to combat organized crime. One protester, 27-year-old Manuel Paez Teran, was shot 57 times. Police alleged he was wielding a firearm, but the autopsy found no gunpowder residue on his body or clothing to suggest he had used a gun. There was no police footage of the encounter.

Defendants who established a bail fund were accused of money laundering and charity fraud, and activists who distributed flyers labeling a trooper who shot Teran a “murderer” faced felony intimidation charges. Others were charged with domestic terrorism: prosecutors labeled them “militant anarchists” or “domestic violent extremists.” The DHS had been........

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