Drunken Email Rant To Obama Gets Brit Banned From US For Life

Well, this will teach people to drink and email:

A BRIT teen who sent an email to the White House calling President Obama a “p***k” has been banned from America FOR LIFE.

The furious FBI asked local cops to tell college student Luke Angel, 17, his drunken insult was “unacceptable”. Luke yesterday admitted he fired off a single email criticising the US Government after seeing a TV programme about 9/11.


Luke, of Silsoe, Beds, said it was “a bit extreme” for the FBI to act.



Obviously, the email must have contained more than the word p***k to get the attention of the FBI. Nonetheless, one does wonder if a lifetime ban is really appropriate in this case.

FILED UNDER: Quick Takes, US Politics
Doug Mataconis
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  1. PD Shaw says:

    Wouldn’t this encourage more of the same?  The kid’s got some street cred now for punching above his weight.  I can see the line starting to form.

  2. Vast Variety says:

    Is 17 too old for a good old fashioned spanking?
    A lifetime ban seems pretty extreme from what we know of what was said.

  3. Michael Reynolds says:

    I was under the impression that we felt all people had the right to freedom of speech.  That should include drunken British teens.  He has a perfect right to call Obama a prick.

  4. john personna says:

    I hope he’s on the Presidential Pardons list.  That would be both appropriate and funny.

  5. Tim says:

    He was wrong to call Obama a prick.  He should have called him an arrogant thin-skinned humorless narcissistic prick.

  6. Steve Plunk says:

    The FBI actually took time to work on this?

  7. jpe says:

    @ Reynolds: yeah, and we have the right to ban him.
    What’s your point?

  8. Michael Reynolds says:

    I thought the point was obvious:  we shouldn’t ban people for exercising their rights in a legal manner.

  9. Contempt for politicians is a trait that should be encouraged in youths rather than punished.

  10. ptfe says:

    The question is whether there was a threat involved; even American citizens get in a lot of trouble for threatening the president. But I’m not sure where the FBI comes in — they’re not the Secret Service (which would generally investigate direct presidential threats), nor are they the State Department (which would list the ban), nor are they Customs and Immigration (which would have to enforce the ban), nor are they Homeland Security (which is theoretically in charge of international threats to security). Also, the local police wouldn’t be able to inform him he’s “banned from America”; that kind of thing would likely be served officially, in writing, if a home address is known.
    I think the kid is full of it, got punked, or doesn’t really understand what’s going on.

  11. James Joyner says:


    Granting that he’s not a citizen, the whole point of the 1st Amendment is that our government can’t punish speech.  Especially political speech.   Granting that “You’re a prick, Obama” is pretty unserious contribution to the dialog, it shouldn’t be a cause for banning.