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1/30/12

Watch Your Tweets - US Bans Two UK Friends Over Joking Tweets

Once again proving you don't fuck with 'Murrica, two UK friends have been barred from entering the country because of some joking tweets they said prior to their trip.

According to this article from The Sun, Leigh Van Bryan and Emily Bunting were detained when they reached LAX because of twitter posts regarding 'destroying America' and digging up Marilyn Monroe's grave.

According to the report, DHS and TSA agents actually looked through Van Bryan's bag, looking for spades and shovels to thwart his attempt to dig up the famous celebrity's grave.

What.... the fuck....

I'm sorry, DHS.  I know you're trying to protect us citizens and all, but where is your sense of humor?  Besides that, what terrorist tweets "I'm going to blow up the La Brea Tar Pits in a week" or other BS like that?

If it didn't mean getting shot on sight, I'd take a backpack, stuff it with packing peanuts, and throw it randomly in a public place, yelling "FOR ALLAH" in protest.  You know, just for laughs...

The statement from the DHS, which can be found on the above link, states:

"During secondary examination, Mr. BRYAN was placed under oath and his sworn statement was taken by CBP Officer Wahmann, Mr. BRYAN confirmed that he posted on his Tweeter website account that he was coming to the United States to dig up the grave of Marilyn Monroe.  Also on his tweeter account Mr. BRYAN posted that he was coming to destroy America."

I'm sorry, but TWEETER?  This is the same government that is trying to pass laws like SOPA and PIPA, regulating the internet that they don't even understand.  And 'destroy' doesn't always mean a terrorist act.  For example, my friends and I destroyed the local nightclub on my 30th birthday.  And I destroyed your mom last night in bed while your dad was at work.

...true story...

I applaud the job DHS is doing with trying to keep terrorists from killing us all, but please learn to see through the sarcasm.  Detaining these two people for 12 hours and sending them back home was overreacting.  At the very least, I hope our government is apologizing, refunding these two for any costs incurred, and paying for their return trip as an apology, ON OUR DIME.

And screw it.  Give them a couple of shovels too.  If they wanna dig Marilyn Monroe up, let them.

14 comments:

  1. Al Penwasser1/30/12, 4:46 PM

    While they're at it, maybe they can have a look around for Jimmy Hoffa, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just Keepin It Real, Folks!1/30/12, 4:55 PM

    The spades and shovels we keep around our redneck house certainly wouldn't fit into any standard size luggage. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. the Tsaritsa1/30/12, 5:11 PM

    Joking about digging up marilyn monroe is obviously sarcasm, but I'm not too sympathetic to the tweets about "destroying America." That's not really funny, and it's easy for 140 characters to be taken out of context. They should be lucky they didn't have their cavities searched.

    ReplyDelete
  4. after31/30/12, 5:17 PM

    I would consider it an honor to to banned from the states...

    a3

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pickleope1/30/12, 6:07 PM

    I was outraged, but then I remembered that I can get banned from flying if I make a joke about my foot stank being a lethal weapon, so it's only fair...wait a second, that means it's someone's job to read EVERYONE's terrible Twitter feeds if they so much as mention certain buzz words. What a terrible job. Guarantee that guy says "I work for DHS" and leaves out the part he reads Tweets like a creep.

    ReplyDelete
  6. D41/30/12, 6:16 PM

    Mhm. But you know, freedom of speech. It exists, kinda. Careful though, they might ban your site for mocking them. OOGABOOGA U.S. GOVVIES. OOGA BOOGA.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Q1/30/12, 6:26 PM

    I bet Marilyn is still hot after all of these years.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Pish Posh1/30/12, 7:05 PM

    I can't even believe this is true. WTF.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dale1/30/12, 8:36 PM

    Wow, I hadn't heard this story...that is pretty intense they were so strict. The 49er player in SF, kyle Williams was receiving death threats and I don't think anyone got in trouble which is kinda scary.

    ~Dale

    ReplyDelete
  10. dopdavid1/30/12, 11:07 PM

    i thought this was a ridiculous over reaction. twitter also began conforming to pressure and started censorship polices on their sites

    ReplyDelete
  11. Alex D.1/31/12, 6:14 AM

    That's just ridiculous... Though I suppose its not so bad; It's what I've come to expect anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Zombie1/31/12, 7:27 AM

    People need to stop taking what people say on twitter so seriously.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Julie Ferguson1/31/12, 9:17 AM

    Really! Looking in their luggage for shovels? (rolling her eyes!) Thank goodness I don't share my feelings on twitter, especially during my once a month bitch fits.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Bart1/31/12, 9:49 AM

    land of the free and home of the brave or land of the imprisoned and the home of the slaves? eh eh ;) wake up and fix your laws. and though i probably wont do nothing but get arrested for being loud you should do somehting too :)

    ReplyDelete

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