Hasan Piker, a popular Turkish American online streamer, said he was stopped and questioned for hours about his political beliefs by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after flying back to the United States from overseas on Sunday.
Mr. Piker, 33, said in a live broadcast on Monday that he was asked about his job, his beliefs on Gaza and President Trump and other topics he discusses on his livestreams while being held for two hours at an airport in Chicago.
Mr. Piker, who was born in the United States, said he was passing through Global Entry, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection program that eases security checks for travelers deemed to be low-risk, when an agent asked him to step aside.
According to Mr. Piker, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent led him to an area that he described as a “detention center,” where he was taken into a room for questioning.
“It’s very obvious they knew who I was,” Mr. Piker said, using an expletive.
Mr. Piker has about 4.5 million followers combined on YouTube and Twitch. His fluency between culture and ideology has led many to brand him a Joe Rogan of the left.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement on social media that Mr. Piker’s “claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless.”
“Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection — a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler,” she said. “Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released.”
Mr. Piker described the conversation as “really, really interesting” and “very cordial.” He said the agent asked him what he did for work, the topics he talked about in his streams and whether he discussed the news, including the war in Gaza and President Trump.
“They straight-up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently,” Mr. Piker said, using an expletive again. “There is no direct connection or direct involvement.”
Mr. Piker also described the agent, who identified himself as Iraqi, as “very sympathetic.” When he asked the agent why he was being detained, Mr. Piker said the agent told him it was “routine.”
He said he was also repeatedly asked about his opinions on and whether he was involved with Hamas, the Houthis, an Iranian-backed militant group that controls northern Yemen, and Hezbollah. Throughout the questioning, Mr. Piker said he was transparent in his responses and repeated the same answers, including describing himself as a “pacifist” who wanted wars to end.
In his broadcast, Mr. Piker said he planned to submit an online inquiry about why he was stopped.
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