US Homeland Security Destroys the Holiday for a visiting Brit Couple - Thrown in Jail for a Little English Humor

http://americanexpatchiangmai.com

Expat:  Is it worth it?  Coming to a country on vacation where the State watches and interprets every move you make, and can throw you in jail on suspicion of thinking about doing something wrong during your holiday should make non-Americans think twice before visiting the US.  Here is another story that sounds like it comes from some old iron curtain repressive  Eastern European regime, but unfortunately it is from the "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave".

Leigh Van Bryan, 26, and Emily Bunting, 24, were planning a holiday in America but are now banned from entering the country, spent hours with Homeland Security interrogation and have been deported.  When they arrived on their flight to Los Angeles, they were immediately arrested, thrown in jail and began their nightmare holiday.  What was Leigh's and Emily's crime:  they made some jokes on Twitter. 

Offending tweet: Mr Bryan told security officials that 'destroy' is slang for party in the UK, but that was not enough to convince them

In the UK, when someone says they are going to destroy a place, as in "let's go downtown on Saturday night and destroy the place", it means to get trashed and party.  So when Brian wrote in his Twitter account about his upcoming vacation to a friend, "Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America", what he meant was that he was coming to America to party (as you would expect from a 26 year old single guy).  His friend and everyone else in the UK would take it that way.  Later, Leigh sent a tweet to a friend saying  "3 weeks today, we're totally in LA p*ssing people off on Hollywood Blvd and diggin' Marilyn Monroe up!"  This was a direct quote from a stupid TV show, Family Guy, and was meant as a bit of a joke (hey DHS, young people tend to make silly jokes).  Very few people would believe that Leigh would actually spend his vacation time digging up the skeletin corpse of a beauty queen that died more than fifty years ago.   But in today's America, you can never make a joke, no matter how silly, because Homeland Security is watching you.

After throwing the couple in jail upon arrival in the US, Homeland Security went through all of their belongings looking for a couple of shovels.  "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,"  Leigh reported after he was deported.  Emily was accused of planning to be Leigh's lookout during his twisted crime on Marlyn Monroe's corpse.  "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," Emily said after her deporting.

Leigh reported once he returned to the UK, that Homeland Security officials told him, "You really f***** up with that tweet, boy," before handcuffing and putting him in what he described as a "cage" inside of a van. He said he was then transported to a prison with other border offenders.

Their journey (or holiday) did not end well.  After extracting confessions from Leigh that he indeed made the offensive Tweets, the pair were immediately put a plane for deportation back to the UK.

Most Americans are still under the illusion that they are not in a Police State where common human rights and even common sense are not ignored.  Two lessons for everyone that this holiday adventure demonstrates:  (1) Do not Tweet anything that a below average intelligence thug could interpret incorrectly (same for Facebook and any other social network), and (2) non-Americans should think carefully before deciding to come to the US to have a fun holiday.  I believe that everyone should cancel any Twitter or Facebook account they may have, because the age of innocence is over.  They are watching you.  You have been warned.

Reports:  Daily Mail UK - 31 Jan 2012, Huffington Post - 31 Jan 2012, TNT Magazine - 30 Jan 2012
Check out the member blogs, videos, and discussions http://12160.info/

Views: 2312

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Pamela Ida Prince on February 1, 2012 at 5:04am

USA is doing a very good job at destroying its self.. 

Comment by Marklar on January 31, 2012 at 2:35pm

Never underestimate the power of authoritarian stupidity/ It'll bite you in the ass every time.

Comment by Ragnarok on January 31, 2012 at 2:06pm

Can only say one of my aunts knew a couple back in the mid-80's that was detained and then deported cuz the answered honestly on the question "have you ever smoked marijuana" while checked up on in a rutine gestapo check the biggest mistake was being honest. LESSON LEARNED  

Comment by youhavetoforgiveme on January 31, 2012 at 2:01pm

What a GREAT commercial for tourism! THANKS Dept. of Homeland Insecurity!

Comment by theGuild on January 31, 2012 at 11:56am

'the machine' had noticed the offending word, it's human slaves are not programmed to question, it's decision is final . 

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

tjdavis posted a blog post
yesterday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Friday
tjdavis posted videos
Friday
tjdavis posted a blog post
Thursday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thursday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Thursday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

First World Order

"Ah ha Truth hidden in plane sight. Notice the map depicted on this 'world order' book…"
Thursday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's video
Thursday
cheeki kea posted a video

Iyah May Karmageddon Lyric Music Video

While ‘Karmageddon’ has sparked significantconversation and controversy, Iyah has stood her ground. She refused to compromise her vision when asked to change...
Thursday
tjdavis posted a video

Steven Wilson - PERSONAL SHOPPER (Official Video)

"The song PERSONAL SHOPPER sits somewhere between being a love-letter to shopping (which I love to do!) and the uneasiness I feel about the more insidious si...
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Dec 23
rlionhearted_3 posted photos
Dec 23
Burbia posted a photo
Dec 23
tjdavis posted a video

propaganda: DIVIDE & CONQUER (1942) - Warner Bros. vs Hitler

Not to be confused with the much drier Frank Capra film from 1943.A "Broadway Brevity", released August 1, 1942. Vitaphone #1022-1023A.Transferred from 16mm.
Dec 21
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Dec 20
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

Thumbs down - ship gone.

" So this sort of stupidity has occurred before. Norway or NZ - Who did it better? Cast your…"
Dec 20
cheeki kea favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Last Meal
Dec 20
tjdavis favorited Sandy's photo
Dec 17
tjdavis favorited cheeki kea's photo
Dec 17
tjdavis favorited tjdavis's video
Dec 17

© 2024   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted