FBI vs APPLE: The War of Words Escalates

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APPLE ... FBI.... who do you side with? That's the talk around the water cooler and it, at times, can become contentious. After all, we're talking about Privacy vs. National Security. Two new polls indicate that those questioned are split almost 50-50 on allowing the FBI to force Apple to open the iPhone belonging to Sayed Faruk. He's one of the two terrorists who killed 14 people and wounded others during a holiday party in San Bernardino in December. The phone is a county issued one.

If you ask some people why they side with the FBI they'll tell you, as one man did, "Forget the privacy. They're killing people!"

On the other side of the growing debate Apple supporters say things like this statement one man told us, "I think the government is going to far. I think Apple should resist."

Stephen Larsen sides with the FBI. a U.S. Attorney in LA for ten years and a Federal Judge for the same amount of time, Larsen says "Law enforcement has an interest. They want to build their case, but these families and these victims... people that were in the room, they have a lot of unanswered questions. Why did this happen? How could this have happened? Who was involved? Are they still at risk? Who were the terrorists communicating with?

Larsen plans to file an amicus brief March 3rd in Riverside Federal Court supporting the FBI side. That, and all of the other points of view, will come up at a hearing slated for March 22nd.

Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook fired off a public letter saying "the case is about much more than a single phone or a single investigation. At stake is the data security of hundreds of millions of law abiding people and setting a dangerous precedent that threatens everyone's civil liberties.

Larsen describes the remark as being over the top.

Meanwhile, FBI Director James Comey wrote a public letter asking "everyone to take a deep breath and stop saying the world is ending and use that breath to talk to each other.

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