Big drama today in the Tor community.

Conrad Rockenhaus, a Tor operator based out of Michigan, United States, was arrested in 2020 after refusing to cooperate with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation

Rockenhaus, a disabled United States military veteran, ran the fastest Tor node in the United States. He was approached sometime in late 2019 when the FBI requested he allow them arbitrary access to his exit node and allow them to decrypt traffic. He denied their request.

Subsequently, in February, 2020 his home was raided. He was arrested for violating the CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act). It was alleged that he was a disgruntled ex-employee causing problems at his former place of employment.

Interestingly, to "help resolve the matter", law enforcement requested he decrypt his Tor exit node to prove his innocence (???). After he refused, he was held in a pre-trial detention cell for over 3 years. He was denied bail after law enforcement stated Mr. Rockenhaus used Linux to "access the dark web" and he was "not complying" and not allowing them access to this Tor exit node.

After Mr. Rockenhaus' wife filed an official complaint, and Mr. Rockenhaus was miraculously released, he was raided by the United States Marshal Fugitive Task Force TWO TIMES(???).

They took him out his home, threw him to the ground, beat him, smashed his windows, and threatened to murder his animals.

They are still requesting Mr. Rockenhaus allow them to access his Tor exit node. Mr. Rockenhaus still has not granted them that privilege.

All of this has been captured on home security camera footage. Additionally, his wife has released all court documents.

https://www.youtube.com/@AdrienneRockenhaus

Videos, court documents, etc. can be found here. His wife has asked Reddit Tor nerds for help:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TOR/comments/1ni5drm/the_fbi_couldnt_get_my_husband_to_decrypt_his_tor/