Ten Internet Jokes That Got People Arrested

Everyone makes a stupid mistake once in a while, some more frequently (and more stupidly) than others. In today's digital culture, a tasteless joke that might once have netted the teller a few disapproving glances is now often relayed over social media and broadcast far and wide. This can get people into a world of trouble.
One unfortunate pair of jokers who got far more than the laughs they bargained for are UK-based couple Leigh van Bryan and Emily Bunting, shown in the photo above. Prior to leaving on a 2012 vacation to Los Angeles, van Bryan, an Irishman living in Britain, tweeted the following message:

"Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America? and 3 weeks today, we're totally in LA p****** people off on Hollywood Blvd and diggin' Marilyn Monroe up!"

When they landed at LAX, federal Homeland Security officials detained the couple, confiscated their passports and questioned them for five hours. In spite of them telling the feds that "destroy America" is slang for getting drunk and rowdy, and in spite of them explaining that the Marilyn Monroe reference was from the animated American television show Family Guy, the authorities remained stone faced and serious. Van Bryan and Bunting maintained that the authorities searched their luggage, telling them they were looking for spades and shovels that would enable them to dig up a body.
Leigh was treated to a full body search before the two were handcuffed and jailed overnight in separate cells. The next morning they were put on a plane back to the UK, without so much as an adieu.
Read about nine more situations in which people got into hot water as a result of their internet usage in this article.