4 ms·

Supposedly for the French guy that you are referring to it was because he had confidential information on his phone from JPL, and not for the reason the French

Supposedly for the French guy that you are referring to it was because he had confidential information on his phone from JPL, and not for the reason the French minister was saying. But I find that hard to believe - that someone in CBP would recognize what’s confidential government information, and then just deport him and not arrest him for spying…. I did find it curious though that the French guy himself never said it was for his messages about trump - only some people in the French government were saying that.

neuroelectron 2y ago
Yet none of this is ever cleared up in the public sphere. Obviously something more is going on between USA and France.
- alpinisme 2y ago
  I don’t know that it’s “obvious” that anything more is happening than the simplest explanation that the current administration (and its lackeys at the lower rungs of government power) is delighting in humiliating and disempowering its critics, domestic and foreign.
  - neuroelectron 2y ago
    Yes because that always happens. Did you not notice the last decade of negative press on Trump and other Republicans? That's just noise and frankly I'm baffled I have to explain this. France is probably one of the most capable military intelligence centers in Europe, have a large amount of nuclear power and supporting infrastructure and is a Muslim stronghold in some areas. So clearly, something more than just surface level WWE-style drama is going on.
- ranger_danger 2y ago
  I think a lot of news stories are pushed out too soon without proper context, leading to sensationalized headlines that fuel the doomers. Maybe some of these stories shouldn't even be news... because the details that come later usually turn it into a nothingburger. Like of course someone is going to be detained if the government legitimately believes they could be connected to a terrorist, nobody is getting upset at THAT. And if these news stories WERE actually something that was happening regularly, it wouldn't even BE news anymore. The mere fact that it's a headline is supposed to mean it's something NOT normal that's going on.
  - roxolotl 2y ago
    Right but you would expect an administration of the party which likes to yell about free speech to come out and try to reduce the concerns about free speech restrictions. As a self labeled free speech crusader Musk should be absolutely distraught that the administration is considering protests against Tesla terrorism. The comments above boil down to: when someone shows you who they are believe them.
    - neuroelectron 2y ago
      Burning teslas is literally the definition of terrorism.
ceejayoz 2y ago
> I did find it curious though that the French guy himself never said it was for his messages about trump I wouldn’t want to be the next public target for Musk and Trump, either.
wombatpm 2y ago
So he had confidential US documents and they did not arrest him? Or he had confidential French documents, the CBP recognized that, and sent him back? The initial stories reported messages criticizing Trump and his science cuts. From a scientist, going to a science convention. CBP being thuggish is the simplest and stupidest explanation making it most likely.
square_usual 2y ago
It's not just the French researcher (and I agree with you about the CBP's suspect official statement); three members of a British punk band were also recently denied entry for an "another issue, which they wouldn’t disclose": https://consequence.net/2025/03/uk-subs-detained-denied-entry-us/ https://consequence.net/2025/03/uk-subs-detained-denied-entr...
quantified 2y ago
Source for this supposition? This is the first I've heard of it

neuroelectron 2y ago

Yet none of this is ever cleared up in the public sphere. Obviously something more is going on between USA and France.

alpinisme 2y ago
I don’t know that it’s “obvious” that anything more is happening than the simplest explanation that the current administration (and its lackeys at the lower rungs of government power) is delighting in humiliating and disempowering its critics, domestic and foreign.
- neuroelectron 2y ago
  Yes because that always happens. Did you not notice the last decade of negative press on Trump and other Republicans? That's just noise and frankly I'm baffled I have to explain this. France is probably one of the most capable military intelligence centers in Europe, have a large amount of nuclear power and supporting infrastructure and is a Muslim stronghold in some areas. So clearly, something more than just surface level WWE-style drama is going on.
ranger_danger 2y ago
I think a lot of news stories are pushed out too soon without proper context, leading to sensationalized headlines that fuel the doomers. Maybe some of these stories shouldn't even be news... because the details that come later usually turn it into a nothingburger. Like of course someone is going to be detained if the government legitimately believes they could be connected to a terrorist, nobody is getting upset at THAT. And if these news stories WERE actually something that was happening regularly, it wouldn't even BE news anymore. The mere fact that it's a headline is supposed to mean it's something NOT normal that's going on.
- roxolotl 2y ago
  Right but you would expect an administration of the party which likes to yell about free speech to come out and try to reduce the concerns about free speech restrictions. As a self labeled free speech crusader Musk should be absolutely distraught that the administration is considering protests against Tesla terrorism. The comments above boil down to: when someone shows you who they are believe them.
  - neuroelectron 2y ago
    Burning teslas is literally the definition of terrorism.

ceejayoz 2y ago

> I did find it curious though that the French guy himself never said it was for his messages about trump I wouldn’t want to be the next public target for Musk and Trump, either.

wombatpm 2y ago

So he had confidential US documents and they did not arrest him? Or he had confidential French documents, the CBP recognized that, and sent him back? The initial stories reported messages criticizing Trump and his science cuts. From a scientist, going to a science convention. CBP being thuggish is the simplest and stupidest explanation making it most likely.

square_usual 2y ago

It's not just the French researcher (and I agree with you about the CBP's suspect official statement); three members of a British punk band were also recently denied entry for an "another issue, which they wouldn’t disclose": https://consequence.net/2025/03/uk-subs-detained-denied-entry-us/ https://consequence.net/2025/03/uk-subs-detained-denied-entr...

quantified 2y ago

Source for this supposition? This is the first I've heard of it