Current.com Blog | January 30, 2012 | 2 comments

From the Community: Homeland Security agents fail to understand British humour

We're taking a closer look at this unbelievable story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

'I'm going to destroy America and dig up Marilyn Monroe': British pair arrested in U.S. on terror charges over Twitter joke
Submitted by Anonmaly

A British couple were detained by Homeland Security for joking on Twitter about 'destroying America' and 'diggin' up Marilyn Monroe'. The term 'destroy' is a British slang for 'party', and the questionable Monroe tweet referred to a Family Guy joke. After being interrogated and spending 12 hours in separate holding cells, the couple were put on a plane home.

Leigh, an Irish national, and Emily arrived at Birmingham Airport last Wednesday afternoon.

Emily said: 'The officials told us we were not allowed in to the country because of Leigh's tweet. 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.

'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. 'It got even more ridiculous because the officials searched our suitcases and said they were looking for spades and shovels. They did a full body search on me too.

'We just wanted to have a good time on holiday. That was all Leigh meant in his tweet. He would not hurt anyone.'

Leigh posted the tweet on January 16 before the pair flew to LA last Monday.

The community chimes on how Twitter is changing the way the government officials are watching us:

kbshana: "So we know that the u.s. government is monitoring world wide twitter accounts and matching up the names with passenger lists, we know the u.s. government doesn't watch family guy, and british slang is stupid."

Leen61: "The guy was dumb to Tweet that, but still. Who in their right mind thinks that REAL terrorists would be so out in the open with their plans? This couple will be put on a terrorist watch list the rest of their lives."

maasanova: "A. Stupid for using Twitter B. Just plain stupid"

DEM46: "I keep telling people that the NSA's supercomputers don't find humor in jokes tweeted or over cell lines. You will be detained."

Join the discussion -- or head over to the Community page for more popular stories from the community.

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2 comments // From the Community: Homeland Security agents fail to understand British humour

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