kong
02-01-2012, 04:53 AM
Leigh Van Bryan claims his tweets about “destroying America” and digging up Marilyn Monroe’s grave were jokes, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security isn’t laughing.
The British man and his friend, Emily Bunting, who flew to Los Angeles for vacation, were detained and questioned by Homeland Security at the airport. Anti-terror agents held the travelers because they believed Van Bryan was going to commit crimes based on the tweets the Department of Homeland Security flagged in mid-January. “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,” the Daily Mail reported. After five hours of interrogation and staying in holding cells overnight, Van Bryan, 26, and Bunting, 24, were sent back to England. The two must apply for visas if they wish to visit the U.S. in the future. The incident shows the U.S. government’s uptick in surveillance of social media, an effort to protect national security and identify terrorists. But it sounds like the U.S. isn’t up on Brit lingo or Family Guy quotes. “Destroy” can also mean to party or have a good time to a Brit. The Marilyn quote was in reference to a Family Guy episode, Van Bryan said.
“The Homeland Security agents were treating me like some kind of terrorist,” Van Bryan told The Sun. “I kept saying they had got the wrong meaning of the tweet, but they just told me ‘You’ve really f***** up with that tweet, boy.’”
Watch the video to hear more about the duo and their run in with drug smugglers
http://mashable.com/2012/01/30/tweet-bars-brits-from-us/
The British man and his friend, Emily Bunting, who flew to Los Angeles for vacation, were detained and questioned by Homeland Security at the airport. Anti-terror agents held the travelers because they believed Van Bryan was going to commit crimes based on the tweets the Department of Homeland Security flagged in mid-January. “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,” the Daily Mail reported. After five hours of interrogation and staying in holding cells overnight, Van Bryan, 26, and Bunting, 24, were sent back to England. The two must apply for visas if they wish to visit the U.S. in the future. The incident shows the U.S. government’s uptick in surveillance of social media, an effort to protect national security and identify terrorists. But it sounds like the U.S. isn’t up on Brit lingo or Family Guy quotes. “Destroy” can also mean to party or have a good time to a Brit. The Marilyn quote was in reference to a Family Guy episode, Van Bryan said.
“The Homeland Security agents were treating me like some kind of terrorist,” Van Bryan told The Sun. “I kept saying they had got the wrong meaning of the tweet, but they just told me ‘You’ve really f***** up with that tweet, boy.’”
Watch the video to hear more about the duo and their run in with drug smugglers
http://mashable.com/2012/01/30/tweet-bars-brits-from-us/