US bars UK tourists over twitter joke

[Braindead Colonel]

Two British tourists were barred from entering America after joking on Twitter that they were going to 'destroy America' and 'dig up Marilyn Monroe'.

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 pissing 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.

'I kept saying to them they had got the wrong meaning from my tweet but they just told me "you've really ** up with that tweet boy". 'When I was in the van I was handcuffed and put in a cage. I had a panic attack but the worse was yet to come. 'When we arrived at the prison I was shoved in a cell on my own but after an hour two huge Mexican men covered in tattoos came in and started asking me who I was. 'They told me they'd been arrested for taking cocaine over the border. 'When the food arrived on the tray they took it all and just left me with a carton of apple juice.' After 12 hours in custody they returned to the airport where they were handed documents which stated they had been refused entry to the US.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...tter-joke.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ter-jokes.html

This is what you get for quoting Family Guy. That show just isn't funny.

[John ''True Grit'' Wayne]

He deserves to be banned..And Anally raped in a US jail by big Bubba

[Rolling Thunder]

Americans. Completely lacking in any sense of humour.

[mrmouth]

That would suggest they said something funny. Had I found myself in a room with them, ridiculous or not, I probably would have held them for 12 hours too, just for the hell of it.

[Bobz]

Americans. Completely lacking in any sense of humour.

Indeed. I would even marginally understand them getting searched, but I wonder why on earth the American security services are spending the effort on investigating twitter that intensively. Do many potential terrorists publicly announce, on an American website no less, "I am going to destroy America"?

[Admiral Piett]

Americans. Completely lacking in any sense of humour.

I don't know about that, man. To me, Northern European humor tends to be rather dry.

This kind of overreaction is to be expected from a worthless agency like DHS.

[Rolling Thunder]

I don't know about that, man. To me, Northern European humor tends to be rather dry.

This kind of overreaction is to be expected from a worthless agency like DHS.

I suppose you would say that. On a more serious note....yes, Homeland Security...reknowned bag of failure...etc.

[Grouchio]

Americans. Completely lacking in any sense of humour.

And I am not one of them apparently. I am simply a pro-European born in the wrong place. What other oddities have gone on?!

[Sir Winston Churchill]

Americans. Completely lacking in any sense of humour.

It's kind of understandable when you've had planes flown into buildings and you'd really like to take every precaution at preventing that.

What they did was sort of like yelling fire in a crowded theater in necessity.

[Arbitrary Crusader]

Americans. Completely lacking in any sense of humour.

Bah, It's those British who were lacking in any sense of humor(The more civilized word.)
If they were quoting Family guy...

[John ''True Grit'' Wayne]

Osama Bin Laden did

[Imperial]

US should ban all UK tourists for their lame jokes.

[psychosiszz]

US should ban all UK tourists for their lame jokes.

Im English and his Jokes arent the standard of British humour or in anyway close to it (Im more embarrassed than anything). I liked how people went to his defense with: "He wouldnt hurt anyone, he's gay" lol.
Personally he got off lightly for his terrible so called jokes.

[Heinz Guderian]

Im English and his Jokes arent the standard of British humour or in anyway close to it (Im more embarrassed than anything). I liked how people went to his defense with: "He wouldnt hurt anyone, he's gay" lol.
Personally he got off lightly for his terrible so called jokes.

to be fair, he does look pretty gay in that photo.

[Katsumoto]

The Sun + Daily Mail = Epic Fail

[Vanoi]

The Sun + Daily Mail = Epic Fail

This. Get some better sources.

[gaunty14]

I believe it was on the bbc, or the Guardian as well

[Genius of the Restoration]

Neither of those as far as I can see. The story seems to stem from the two British tabloids. I have my doubts about the story.

[Robin de Bodemloze]

[Insert generic derogatory remark about American intelligence]

Is anyone genuinely surprised? Next.

[Genius of the Restoration]

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10272373-tourists-banned-from-us-over-twitter-jokes

When we reached out to the appropriate authorities for more information about this incident, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson confirmed that two individuals were in fact denied admission to the U.S. under vaguely similar circumstances:

Based on information provided by the LAX Port Authority Infoline — a suspicious activity tipline — CBP conducted a secondary interview of two subjects presenting for entry into the United States. Information gathered during this interview revealed that both individuals were inadmissible to the United States and were returned to their country of residence.

When I questioned whether tweets posted by either individual had anything to do with the incident, I was told that the details of the detainment/expulsion were protected by privacy laws. The same reply came when I inquired whether the individuals were temporarily or permanently barred from entering the U.S.

The CBP spokesperson did explain that the agency "denies entry to thousands of individuals each year on grounds of inadmissibility, some of which include: improper travel documents, prohibited activities or intent, traveling under the Visa Waiver Program without qualifying for participation in that program, smuggling of contraband or prohibited goods, criminal activity or history, immigration violations such as prior overstay, attempting to gain entry with fraudulent documents or posing as an imposter, and national security concerns, among others."

Could be real, could be bollocks. I currently don't know for sure because the authority that made the decision can't comment on it and The Sun and Daily Mail are both terrible sources for news and make stuff up all the time to sell stories.