British teenager banned from America for life after sending Barack Obama abusive email
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:37 AM on 14th September 2010
A British teenager has been banned from America for life for sending Barack Obama an abusive email, in which he calls the President a p***k.
Luke Angel, 17, insulted Mr Obama while drunk after watching a programme about the 9/11 attacks on the U.S.
Angel was reprimanded by police on both sides of the Atlantic after firing off the message to the White House.
Reprimand: Luke Angel, left, had his message to Mr Obama intercepted by the FBI
The FBI intercepted the message and contacted police in the UK who went to see Mr Angel at his home in Silsoe, Bedfordshire.
The college student is now on a list of people who are banned from visiting the States.
The teenager told the Bedfordshire On Sunday newspaper that he had sent the email after watching a TV programme about September 11.
When asked about the ban, Luke said: 'I don't really care. My parents aren't very happy about it.
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'The police who came round took my picture and told me I was banned from America forever.'
A Bedfordshire Police spokesman said: 'The individual sent an email to the White House full of abusive and threatening language.
'We were informed by the Metropolitan Police and went to see him. He said, "Oh dear, it was me".'
Facing years in prison: Asperger's sufferer Gary McKinnon, 43, is accused of hacking into Nasa and Pentagon computers
Officers will take no criminal action.
This latest case comes a year after that of computer hacker Gary McKinnon, who is facing decades in a U.S. jail for crimes allegedly committed from his north London home.
The extradition of the Asperger's sufferer - who was searching for evidence of alien life when he hacked into NASA and Pentagon computers - brought a storm of protest.
A review of the Extradition Act - which governs arrangements between the U.S. and UK - was announced earlier this month by Home Secretary Theresa May.
The laws allow America and European Union countries to have British citizens arrested and sent for trial abroad - without presenting the level of evidence which would be needed for prosecution in the UK.
A judge will lead a panel examining whether the Extradition Act and European Arrest Warrant are being used to unfairly pursue Britons.
At the heart of the controversy is the fact the Act is 'lopsided' because British citizens are not given the same legal protection as Americans.
It comes against the backdrop of questions over Freedom of Speech in the U.S. - particularly in light of the row over the building of a mosque on the site if Ground Zero.
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Good .I like most people are sick and tired off people being let off with pathetic sentences after committing crimes whilst drunk .It is almost as if committing crimes whilst drunk is legal and excessive alcohol consumption is a valid defence to all sorts of charges.
He is a cocky 17 year old who could not care less today yet when he is 30 and is turned down for a job because it involves travel to the US or he can't take his family to America on holiday perhaps he will realise that abusing other people is not free speech it is wrong.
- Mr Rolf Kitching, Gosport Hampshire,
Are you wide awake????? i think not!!!!- joanna, Surrey, 13/9/2010 20:39
Well, not great loss either way I would imagine. Rather pathetic kneejerk reaction by the FBI but that's what one would expect. Really wasn't very bright of him to send it straight to Obama's office, if he wanted to call him names, he should have done it on the comments page of the New York Timesl, like the Americans call our people names in the Daily Mail!
- Helen, Gosport, 13/9/2010 20:39
Seems like the Yanks have the right idea.
If we took the same attitude towards people then England would be a better place.
- Davito, Somerset...not so great Britain, 13/9/2010 20:37
Seems like the Yanks have the right idea.
If we took the same attitude towards people then England would be a better place.
- Davito, Somerset...not so great Britain, 13/9/2010 20:36
Americans are very patriotic. I worked for Camp America one summer and we were expected (not asked) to attend the raising of the flag every morning, even on our days off. This was not a problem for me as I found the pride they held for their country quite uplifting and thought what a great shame we didn't do this in Britain. Drinking alcohol under the age of 21 in many if not all of the states is illegal and punishment can be and often is harsh. After spending just one summer in the USA at the age of 20 I can understand why they don't want the likes of drunken, ignorant louts in their country - they probably have enough of their own so why put up with those from other countries. I am sure he will be able to travel there one day but he will probably have to endure an interrogation like interview to justify his entry. And quite right too. Might seem extreme to some but at least now we're aware of what the Americans will and will not put up with. Like it or lump it.
- Sara, France, 13/9/2010 20:36
So much for freedom of speech, eh?
- Ray, Bucks, 13/9/2010 20:31
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Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Brit Luke Angel banned from US after sending Barack Obama abusive e-mail | Mail Online
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