Storm Area 51: YouTube Star and Friend Arrested, Jailed After Trying to Get Near

The Storm Area 51 raid has not been all fun and games, as a YouTube star and his friend wound up [...]

By Stephen Andrew

The Storm Area 51 raid has not been all fun and games, as a YouTube star and his friend wound up being arrested and jailed after trying to get near the military base. According to CNN, two men from the Netherlands — 20-year-old Ties Granzier and 21-year-old Govert Charles Wilhelmus Jacob Sweep — were taken into custody by the Nye County Sheriff's Office last week, after getting about three miles into the Nevada National Security Site. Interestingly, the two men claimed that the widely publicized raid was not part of their agenda.

"We didn't have any intention to storm it because we leave on day before the actual storming dates, and we just wanted... to go there," Sweep told a local news outlet after their arrest.

The pair were charged with, and pleaded guilty to, trespassing and illegal parking. These are both misdemeanors charges. They were sentenced to a year behind bars, but told that their sentence would be reduced to three days if they each pay a fine of $2,280.

Nye County District Attorney Chris Arabia commented on the situation: "It was important to us that these men serve jail time and pay a substantial financial penalty. We take this crime seriously. And people need to understand that we will not put up with this kind of nonsense."

The Area 51 raid event has sparked countless memes and had many people talking online, with one Twitter user suggesting, "Mate what if the government admitted that they previously covered up proof of aliens so close to the Area 51 raid to push the people who want to expose them into trespassing so that they can arrest and silence them."

"I hope people's self preservation kicks in and we won't have to read about people's deaths as they ACTUALLY TRY TO STORM AREA 51. 'They can't kill us all.' Uh, they TOTALLY can and ABSOLUTELY will. If you're lucky they'll just premptively arrest you all," someone else joked.

While Granzier and Sweep were arrested ahead of the event, it has been reported that at least one person was arrested during it on Friday. One other individual was detained, but not taken into custody.

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