The controversy underscored the distrust of the FBI among many conservatives, who sharply questioned Liberty Safe’s commitment to protect their firearms from federal agents.
The controversy underscored the distrust of the FBI among many conservatives, who sharply questioned Liberty Safe’s commitment to protect their firearms from federal agents.Nathan Earl Hughes, 34, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, was arrested Aug. 30 on felony and misdemeanor charges that accused him of storming the Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
He said that his client had already been arrested at a shopping plaza and was not at home when FBI agents executed the search. “Liberty Safe is an enemy to gun owners,” Charlie Kirk, who runs Turning Point USA, a right-wing student group, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “They could have fought the warrant — like Apple did — instead they buckled and bent over. Your guns are not safe with @libertysafeinc Boycott. Ridicule. Ruin their company.”
“Our company’s protocol is to provide access codes to law enforcement if a warrant grants them access to a property,” Liberty Safe said. “After receiving the request, we received proof of the valid warrant, and only then did we provide them with an access code.
“Unlike iPhones, where Apple doesn’t know the code, or social media, where there is a free-speech issue, the FBI doesn’t even need the safe company to do anything if they have a blowtorch,” said Christopher Slobogin, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School.