SAN FRANCISCO—Apple CEO Tim Cook said Wednesday that it would be “bad for America” if his company complied with the FBI’s demand for help unlocking an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.
Cook said he’s prepared to take the dispute to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also said he would try to make his case directly to President Barack Obama, although he did not say when or where they would meet.
In his first interview since the controversy erupted last week, Cook told ABC News that it was a difficult decision to resist a court order directing Apple to override security features on an iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of two extremists who killed 14 people in the Southern California city in December.
“Some things are hard and some things are right, and some things are both. This is one of those things,” Cook said. The interview came as both sides in the dispute are courting public support, through interviews and published statements, while also mustering legal arguments in the case.
