;D
the homeland guys have no sense of humor or knowledge of slang..so watch it cause they are watching you..us...they're busy... ???
British Tourists Detained, Deported For Tweeting 'Destroy America'
Careful what you tweet.
Two 20-somethings arriving from the U.K. learned a harsh lesson about the American government's sense of humor on Monday, Jan. 23, when they were detained and then forced to return home due to comments they made on Twitter.
According to the Daily Mail, Leigh Van Bryan, 26, and Emily Bunting, 24, were going through Customs when they were detained.
The two spend the next 12 hours locked up in a cell and being grilled by Homeland Security officials. Bryan was charged with intending to come to the U.S. to commit crimes, while Bunting was charged for traveling with him.
Paperwork for the incident indicates that Bryan's name was on a "One Day Lookout" list maintained by Homeland Security.
According to the New York Post and World News Daily, this refers to an auto-generated temporary list of inbound travelers that are already in the official terror watch list database.
The paperwork also referred to Bryan's tweets, incorrectly stating they came from his account on "Tweeter."
........
The tweets had been sent a week before their trip, indicating the U.S. government had flagged the pair well before their arrival.
Both claimed the messages were lost in translation.
"They asked why we wanted to destroy America and we tried to explain ['destroy'] meant to get trashed and party," Bunting told the Daily Mail.
Bryan also said he was asked about a tweet that he says is a quote from the television show 'Family Guy' that read, "3 weeks today, we're totally in LA p***** people off on Hollywood Blvd and diggin' Marilyn Monroe up!"
"I almost burst out laughing when they asked me if I was going to be Leigh's lookout while he dug up Marilyn Monroe," Bunting told the Daily Mail. "It got even more ridiculous because the officials searched our suitcases and said they were looking for spades and shovels."
But things quickly became less humorous to Bryan and Bunting.
Speaking with the Daily Mail, Bryan said officials told him, "You really f***** up with that tweet, boy," before handcuffing and putting him in what Bryan described as a "cage" inside of a van. He said he was then transported to a prison with other border offenders.
"It's just so ridiculous it's almost funny but at the time it was really scary. The Homeland Security agents were treating me like some kind of terrorist," Bryan told the Mail.
"We just wanted to have a good time on holiday. That was all Leigh meant in his tweets," Bunting told The Sun.
This isn't the first time a tweet has gotten someone in trouble with the U.S. government.
And other social media outlets, such as Facebook, have also been used by police to prevent potential crimes. Just last week, an Arizona policeman drew a Secret Service probe for posting a photo of a man holding a T-shirt with the image of President Obama riddled with bullet holes.
This news comes at a time when Internet privacy and censorship are hot issues. Just last week, controversy erupted when Twitter revealed it would comply with censorship laws in countries like China and Thailand where much of the content on the internet is restricted.
UPDATE: Leigh Van Bryan is originally from Ireland but currently lives in Coventry, U.K., while Emily Bunting resides in Birmingham, U.K.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/british-tourists-deported-for-tweeting_n_1242073.html?ref=technology
We have a different sense of humour to you lot. ::)
There is definitely a sense of humour barrier. Apparently San Francisco and New Yorker's have less of a problem with it. I for one will be careful when I visit your place. LOL
That's just freakin SAD. By acting this way, Governments are allowing the terrorists to win. The whole terror thing wins when we all live in fear because of terrorist stupidity.
Beside that, if the kids were terrorists, wouldn't it have been smarter to watch them and connect together all the dots? Or - maybe they were just showing they too have a "sense of humor" by kicking them out of the Country. (Which is just overboard)
So we all live in fear and the real terrorists roam free and get to laugh at us. Boooooooo - Bad stategy!
They should just negotiate with these terrorist boobs, fix the problems, and reach some kind of compromise so we can all get on with life & live in PEACE!
It's like watching two little kids fight and no adults are stepping in to stop it.
THATS ENOUGH! STOP IT! NO MORE! BOTH OF YOU! SHAME ON YOU BOTH! >:(
( Bunch of bad kids screwing up everyones life... )
I'd like to ask both sides directly - are you the enemy of Peace?
Then stop acting like you are!
Typical! With actions like these, no wonder people hate America.
Maybe it is some twisted plan to 'create' terrorists???
I for one after being humiliated, tortured, 'anal probed' ;D and beaten, wouldn't hesitate in returning to the USA and showing these 'arseholes' what a real terrorist could do.