Border Agents Seize Devices from Politically-Active Virgin Islander

Federal agents detained the laptop and cellphones of a St. Croix innkeeper as he prepared to board a flight to Miami Monday. Ryan Flegal said Wednesday the agents refused to say why they rifled through his bags and took his electronics, but he suspects it may be because he is an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.

Flegal, a frequent and public political commentator, said he was careful to follow the letter of the law in his criticisms of Trump and other public officials and nothing on the devices would implicate him in any wrongdoing.

“There’s no, like, legal justification for doing this to me,” he said by telephone Wednesday. “I’m also a journalist. So the idea of this happening to people who are engaged in political interviews and evaluating our political process, and doing political commentary is something that’s especially concerning.”

Flegal has been critical of plans to reopen the St. Croix oil refinery and other environmental issues, was an organizer of the Virgin Islands’ No Kings rallies, and has said the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection was Trump’s attempted coup.