Innocuous Twitter Posts Lead to Arrest, Deportation for British Tourist Couple
2,000 Elderly British Cruise Ship Passengers' 7-Hours of TSA Hell at Port of Los Angeles
Two incidents involving British tourists who had holidays from hell in the United States courtesy of the TSA and Dept. of Homeland Security-a young couple recently detained then deported and in late May, 2011, 2,000 elderly British cruise ship passengers who endured what they called the ‘Cruise to Guantanamo Bay’. Both incidents occurred in Los Angeles.
“Two British tourists were barred from entering America after joking on Twitter that they were going to ‘destroy America’ and ‘dig up Marilyn Monroe’.
Leigh Van Bryan, 26, was handcuffed and kept under armed guard in a cell with Mexican drug dealers for 12 hours after landing in Los Angeles with pal Emily Bunting.
The Department of Homeland Security flagged him as a potential threat when he posted an excited tweet to his pals about his forthcoming trip to Hollywood which read: ‘Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?’”
In the UK, ‘destroyed’ is slang for going to have a good time.
In May of 2011, 2,000 British tourists on a “£10,000, two-and-a-half month “Alaska Adventure” tour from the Arctic to the Caribbean” cruise went on what they described as a ‘cruise to Guantanamo Bay’ after their cruise ship arrived in Los Angeles.
The Telegraph, Cruise passengers tell of seven-hour security ‘revenge’ nightmare:
[Snip]
Although they had already been given advance clearance for multiple entries to the country during their trip, all 2,000 passengers were made to go through full security checks in a process which took seven hours to complete.
The fingerprints of both hands were taken as well as retina scans and a detailed check of the passport as well as questioning as to their background.
Passengers claim that the extra checks were carried out in “revenge” for what had been a minor spat over allegedly overzealous security.
They complain that they were “herded like animals” and made to stand for hours in temperatures up to 80F with no food or water or access to lavatories.
Some are said to have passed out in the heat while others were left confused and bewildered.
When one lady asked in desperation whether she could use a bathroom, one immigration official is said to have replied: “Do it over the side, we won’t mind.”
