Families of SB victims sign brief supporting gov in iPhone case
Several families that lost loved ones in the terrorist shooting in San Bernardino have filed their support for the government in the case of having Apple unlock one of the shooter’s iPhones.
A brief was filed by Stephen G. Larson of Larson O’Brien LLP, who’s been in contact with victims regarding the December 2 terrorist attack.
The following families have signed the brief:
Gregory Clayborn lost his daughter, Sierra Clayborn
James Godoy lost his wife, Aurora Godoy
Tina Meins lost her father, Damian Meins
Mark Sandefur lost his son, Larry Daniel Eugene Kaufman
Robert Velasco lost his daughter, Yvette Velasco
Hal Rouser’s wife, Beth Houser, attended the party and personally witnessed the horrors of the December 2 tragedy but, thankfully,
survived
Meanwhile, Apple says complying with FBI will hurt everyone but terrorists.
The brief includes a letter from Mark Sandefur to Tim Cook, expressing his thoughts on why the iPhone should be unlocked by Apple:
Dear Mr. Cook,
Our son, Larry Daniel Eugene Kaufman, was one of the fourteen people killed in the terrorist
shooting in San Bernardino. Daniel worked as an instructor, teaching people with disabilities the skills necessary to live independent lives. He was not what one would think of as a terrorist
target of the Islamic State. I know that you are facing some difficult decisions concerning letting the FBI develop a program to break into the iPhone that one of the murderers had with them. I’d like to ask you to support the requests from the FBI. My reasons are from a different perspective. I have attended private briefings that are held for the families of the victims. At these briefings, we learn first-hand what the public eventually learns. We are not privy to anything only the FBI knows, but we talk amongst ourselves about the horrors of that day. Some of the survivors come to these meetings pushing walkers, or limping with canes. They are reminders to me of what they went through. We who lost our family members are reminders to them that it could have been worse. Several of the survivors tell me bone-chilling stories of where they were, and what they saw. Some of them describe in precise detail, laying on the floor, hiding under furniture and the bodies of their co-workers, that they saw three assailants, not two, walking around in heavy boots as they carried out their murders. I have seen demonstrations of the tricks one’s mind plays in times of terror. Witnesses swear they saw different things. Time stretches. People misidentify perpetrators. And this may be what happened. Perhaps they were wrong about seeing three terrorists. But, consider that there are several witnesses who saw three killers. Consider that the FBI did not recover any “heavy boots” in their thorough searches. If you talked with these witnesses, as I have, you too would be convinced that there were three. Recovery of information from the iPhone in question may not lead to anything new. But, what if there is evidence pointing to a third shooter? What if it leads to an unknown terrorist cell? What if others are attacked, and you and I did nothing to prevent it? Please also consider that the software you have been asked to write undoubtedly already exists in the security services of Communist China, and many other countries, who have already reverseengineered the iPhone operating system for future exploitation. Why should we be the ones without it? I urge you to consider the requested cooperation as your patriotic duty.
With the greatest respect, Mark M. Sandefur
