British pair arrested in U.S. on terror charges over Twitter jokes
 

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Two British tourists were barred from entering America after joking on Twitter that they were going to 'destroy America' and 'dig up Marilyn Monroe'.
Leigh Van Bryan, 26, was handcuffed and kept under armed guard in a cell with Mexican drug dealers for 12 hours after landing in Los Angeles with pal Emily Bunting.
The Department of Homeland Security flagged him as a potential threat when he posted an excited tweet to his pals about his forthcoming trip to Hollywood which read: 'Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?'

After making their way through passport control at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) last Monday afternoon the pair were detained by armed guards.
Despite telling officials the term 'destroy' was British slang for 'party', they were held on suspicion of planning to 'commit crimes' and had their passports confiscated

Leigh was also quizzed about another tweet which quoted hit US comedy Family Guy which read: '3 weeks today, we're totally in LA p****** people off on Hollywood Blvd and diggin' Marilyn Monroe up!

Federal agents even searched his suitcase looking for spades and shovels, claiming Emily was planning to act as Leigh's 'look out' while he raided Marilyn's tomb.
Bar manager Leigh, from Coventry, and Emily, 24, from Birmingham, were then quizzed for five hours at LAX before they were handcuffed and put into a van with illegal immigrants and locked up overnight.
They spent 12 hours in separate holding cells before being driven back to the airport where they were put on a plane home via Paris.
Leigh, an Irish national, and Emily arrived at Birmingham Airport last Wednesday afternoon.
Emily said: 'The officials told us we were not allowed in to the country because of Leigh's tweet. They wanted to know what we were going to do.
'They asked why we wanted to destroy America and we tried to explain it meant to get trashed and party.
'I almost burst out laughing when they asked me if I was going to be Leigh's lookout while he dug up Marilyn Monroe.
'I couldn't believe it because it was a quote from the comedy Family Guy which is an American show.

how fucking stupid can people be ?

facepalm.jpg

great job america!

Two terrorist twitter twerps thwarted.

.

They monitor everything. I guess you can't even joke anymore.

America, land of the free!

Lol id love see vid

Fucked up country.

Welcome to the police state. We have a FEMA camp expecting you.

No you don't.

Bigger question - How did they know he was the owner of said Twitter account? What tipped them off? When I check in at the airport, does the screen show them all my social profile accounts for them to scan before they let me on the airplane?

Not for you. It's only for Americans.

A spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection told MSNBC officers were tipped off about the couple through an information hotline and conducted an interview with them at the airport.

Time to visit http://epic.org/

Good point, but who put them in charge of immigration is even more stupid.

I guess the DHS has no sense of humour.

gee, what happened to free america ?

Ah...humor.

Loved that movie:thumbsup

And not much in the way of common sense either.

:thumbsup :2 cents:

it was funny the first time i travelled to the USA i was 19yo and alone with $5g cash on me.
homeland security interviewed me for about 1 hour they were very serious with every question they asked me no humor at all. i was amazed how many people fly to the USA step of the plane and instantly claim asylum. i would still go back in a hart beat loved every moment.

I'm guessing neither is a requirement for working at the DHS. Nor is an IQ test a requirement.

ehhh, shudnt that correctly read
America, land of the paranoid???

strange, only yday i saw "they live" with roddy piper ... and somehow i had to think about how US citizens live today ... hey, you might as well live in iran now; they have a sick regime without personal liberty as well :2 cents:

Merrica! Fuck yeah!

America close to hell

The great thing is, while they were terrorizing college kids, maybe some real terrorists that didn't look like lily white college kids were able to get passed by!

Searching for shovels in their suitcases. Now why wouldn't I think of that?

well, he does look suspicious...

http://cdn4.spiegel.de/images/image-...eryV9-hshh.jpg

:1orglaugh

i would just like to say how much i love the usa
except for their hockey teams...

that fucking haircut is grounds for a banning from the country...

There are hockey teams in the USA? Huh :eek7

he does look like a terrorist :winkwink:

Sounds like bullshit to me...

DHS probably doesn't realize how this makes them look...

thats what the british get for their humor :glugglug

Ya it's the bomb...

Nope No jokes anymore ... they monitor all social networking ...