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Detained Twitter Joke Destroy

January 31, 2012 by · 1 Comment 

Detained Twitter Joke Destroy, TWO British tourists have been held at a US airport after joking about “destroying America” on the social networking site.

Leigh Van Bryan, 26, and his friend Emily Bunting, 24, were detained by armed guards after landing at Los Angeles International Airport last Monday and kept in a cell with Mexican drug dealer for 12 hours, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.

Mr Bryan, who was travelling with friend Emily Bunting, was flagged as a potential threat when he asked a friend on Twitter: “Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?”

The shocked pair were detained by armed guards after making their way through Los Angeles International Airport last Monday.

They were held on suspicion of planning to commit crimes and had their passports confiscated, despite telling officials the term “destroy” was British slang for “party”.

“The officials told us we were not allowed in to the country because of Leigh’s tweet,” Ms Bunting said. “They wanted to know what we were going to do.”

“They asked why we wanted to destroy America and we tried to explain it meant to get trashed and party.”

Another Tweet quoting the TV show Family Guy was quizzed, it read: “3 weeks today, we’re totally in LA p****d people off on Hollywood Blvd and diggin’ Marilyn Monroe up!”

Mr Bryan said his suitcase was searched for spades and shovels while a full body search was conducted on Ms Bunting.

“It’s just so ridiculous it’s almost funny but at the time it was really scary,” Mr Bryan said. “The Homeland Security agents were treating me like some kind of terrorist.”

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