Punk Singer Reportedly Refused Entry to the United States for Impersonating Donald Trump
A punk rock singer has reportedly been denied entry to the United States for mocking Donald Trump. Peter and the Test Tube Babies vocalist Peter Bywaters was supposed to front his band at California’s Punk Invasion Festival, but after his plane landed in San Francisco, he was detained by authorities and sent back to the U.K.
In 2016, Peter and the Test Tube Babies embarked on their ‘Presidential Tour,’ with Bywaters dressing as Trump and mocking the current president. According to Bywaters, U.S. Customs had a photo of the singer in full Trump attire ready for him as he landed.
“I had only been there 30 seconds when the customs and border control guard swung his screen round and said: ‘Is this you?’” Bywaters tells Team Rock. “There in full view was a video from last year’s German tour with me dressed as Donald Trump smoking a fake joint. From there it all went down hill. Six hours later I was forcibly escorted to my seat on the plane.”
Instead of making his way to Santa Ana, Calif. for the July 29 fest, Bywaters was interrogated for six hours by customs and border protection officers. The singer’s phone and passport were both confiscated before he was finger printed, DNA swapped, photographed and forced to make a sworn statement before being escorted to his flight back home. Bywaters couldn’t even grab a drink on the plane due to United States policy to refuse alcohol to deportees.
The band posted about Bywaters’ incident via Facebook:
“Oh well, I expect to still be the singer of Peter & The Test Tube Babies by the end of the year,” Bywaters says. “Will Trump still be president by the end of the summer?”
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