The blogosphere erupted this weekend about the alleged beating of Dr. Peter Watts, a Canadian science fiction author, by American border guards in Michigan.
Another SF author, Cory Doctorow, broke the story on Boing Boing:
My friend, the wonderful sf writer Peter Watts was beaten without provocation and arrested by US border guards on Tuesday. I heard about it early Wednesday morning in London and called Cindy Cohn, the legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She worked her contacts to get in touch with civil rights lawyers in Michigan, and we mobilized with Caitlin Sweet (Peter's partner) and David Nickle (Peter's friend) and Peter was arraigned and bailed out later that day.
But now Peter faces a felony rap for "assaulting a federal officer" (Peter and the witness in the car say he didn't do a thing, and I believe them). Defending this charge will cost a fortune, and an inadequate defense could cost Peter his home, his livelihood and his liberty.
Watts reported the incident on his own website:
Along some other timeline, I did not get out of the car to ask what was going on. I did not repeat that question when refused an answer and told to get back into the vehicle. In that other timeline I was not punched in the face, pepper-sprayed, shit-kicked, handcuffed, thrown wet and half-naked into a holding cell for three fucking hours, thrown into an even colder jail cell overnight, arraigned, and charged with assaulting a federal officer, all without access to legal representation (although they did try to get me to waive my Miranda rights. Twice.).
Nor was I finally dumped across the border in shirtsleeves: computer seized, flash drive confiscated, even my fucking paper notepad withheld until they could find someone among their number literate enough to distinguish between handwritten notes on story ideas and, I suppose, nefarious terrorist plots. I was not left without my jacket in the face of Ontario’s first winter storm, after all buses and intercity shuttles had shut down for the night.
The story moved across the blogosphere this weekend, generating almost 1,800 hits in a Google blog search for "Peter Watts" limited to Friday and Saturday.
The Port Huron Times-Herald described the incident, quoting police captain Jim Jones as saying "a border officer used pepper spray to subdue Watts. Jones said Watts 'choked' an officer during the struggle."
Watts, who holds a Ph.D. in marine biology, was released on a $5,000 bond and must appear in a US court on December 22. If he is convicted, he could be jailed for two years and fined up to US$2,000.
The story has also reached The Star, the National Post, and the Globe and Mail.
Watts did not respond to The Tyee's request for details about the incident.
Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.
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Janie Jones
2 years ago
Amy Goodman
Well at least Amy Goodman only got questioned.
Wilfride Laurier
2 years ago
The Other Side?
I would like to see the other side of the story. There is usually a reason for escalation in my experience.
Travis
2 years ago
Wilfrede.
And what would your experience be?
-Travis
Wilfride Laurier
2 years ago
My expereince....
Is that it takes two to tango and that cooler heads can have more success than not....
Janie Jones
2 years ago
Attitude
Apparently he got out of his vehicle when the border guards started rifling through his stuff in the trunk. They told him to get back into the car and he asked them what was going on instead. For his impertinence at not immediately following their orders they put the jackboots to him.
Apparently asking a simple question is enough to show "attitude" to US border guards.
Wilfride Laurier
2 years ago
Yup
When crossing an international border, any international border, do what the guards say. They have every right to search anything coming into their country. Keep your mouth shut and keep your cool. Answer their questions promptly, truthfully and offer no more information than asked for. This is how trouble is prevented before it starts.
political philo...
2 years ago
Do as I say...
Wilfride Laurier -
It is really some comfort to know that we should all act like we live in a fascist police state (not to say that we actually do) when dealing with police officers and other authority figures. "Keep your eyes straight ahead, your head down, and don't say a word, and maybe you won't get attacked for no reason and falsely charged with a crime."
Who knows what actually happened, by my presumption is on the side of innocence, especially when you have an otherwise normal individual with no post criminal behaviour, and given my own personal experience of dealing with boarder guards. They should know tempers can run high, and unless he one of them in the face, their actions are a disgrace.
Wilfride Laurier
2 years ago
Well
When actually living in a "fascist police state" if one wants to keep his or her head, he or she is well advised to keep it down.
The Blackbird
2 years ago
So much for the world's longest undefended border
The message here is clear. If you're not with the big corporations, you're more than unwelcome in America, you are the enemy.
Travis
2 years ago
No?
No specific experience Wilfride? Okay.
I read a good description of the man's likely offense: "insufficient cringe".
Something like that.
-Travis
kootenay
2 years ago
Staying Home
It's been years since I've crossed the border into the states. This story is just another good reason why I don't.
The arrogance of the boarder guards is one reason, but their ability to detain anyone for as long as they please without charges is the key reason I stay away.
For a country that loudy proclaims themselves to be the 'land of the free', they sure aren't.
andchimeras
2 years ago
Coming or going...
Wilfrede says: "They have every right to search anything coming into their country."
I say: Irrelevant. Watts was entering *Canada*, not the US. The American guards stopped him on his way out of Michigan.