American held captive by Russians for 10 days thanks to James Bond
On Don Lemon Tonight Wednesday, Minnesota native Tyler Jacob spoke about his ten-day detainment by the Russian military in Ukraine. Jacob, who was an English teacher in Ukraine, was traveling on a bus trying to escape the violence when he was pulled off the bus at a checkpoint. No one else he was traveling with was detained, and Jacob believes he knows why.
“The Russians believe in this myth that 007, the legend, his cover story is being an English teacher,” Jacob said. “So they thought that I was, like, the legend.”
After some heavy interrogation, and going through all of his devices, Jacob’s Russian captors were satisfied that he wasn’t a spy, telling him, “You’re just an English teacher that’s in a bad situation.”
Though his mother, who had done interviews with Lemon throughout her son’s detainment, had feared the worst, according to Jacob, it wasn’t bad at all.
“How did they treat you in custody?” Lemon asked. “So, the first two days weren’t so great. But once I got to jail in Simferopol (Crimea), they were absolutely perfect to me,” Jacob said. “As much as I’d like to say that Russians are bad people for invading a sovereign country, these people are some of the nicest people I’ve met. I mean, there [were] three captains that rotated in the jail, and two of them would speak English with me, and one of them would wink at me when I’d get pulled to go get questioned and he would make sure that I knew that things were going well.”
Video Transcript
DON LEMON: How did they treat you in custody? TYLER JACOB: So the first two days weren't so great. But like once I got to the jail in Simferopol, they were absolutely perfect to me. KYLIE MAR: Minnesota native Tyler Jacob, who was freed late last week after being detained for 10 days by the Russian military in Ukraine, appeared on "Don Lemon Tonight Wednesday," where he spoke about his time in captivity. And though he said he'd like to think all Russians are bad people for what they've done in Ukraine, Jacob only had words of praise for his captors. TYLER JACOB: These people were some of the nicest people I've met. I mean, two-- there were three captains that rotated in the jail. And two of them would speak English with me. And one of them would like, wink at me when I get pulled to go get questioned. And he would make sure that he knew that-- or I knew that things were going well. KYLIE MAR: Jacob, who was an English teacher in Ukraine, said he was detained because of a strange belief Russians have about the most famous fictional spy in the world. TYLER JACOB: The Russians believe in this myth that 007, the legend, his cover story as being an English teacher. So they thought that I was like the legend. - [LAUGHS] KYLIE MAR: But Jacob said they eventually realized he is exactly who he said he is. TYLER JACOB: By Wednesday, he was like still questioning me very heavily about like being a spy, and like how do you know this person? Finally, on Thursday, he comes back and he says, no, I went through all of your contacts. That number isn't in there. And like, you're just an English teacher that's in a bad situation.
