Canadian sci-fi author beaten, imprisoned at US border crossing

[Newsjock]

Source: National Post

Canadian science-fiction author and Toronto native Dr. Peter Watts was reportedly beaten, pepper-sprayed and imprisoned at a US-Canada border crossing in Michigan.

According to boingboing.net, where the writer has been known to contribute, Watts was “beaten without provocation and arrested by US border guards on Tuesday.”

Watts now faces a felony charge for “assaulting a federal officer,” with Watts and his passenger in the car saying that he's completely innocent. The real tragedy here is that Watts could be left in financial ruin from the cost of legal fees, yet he is determined to fight the charges.

... Watts' friend and fellow Canadian science-fiction author David Nickle writes of the incident on boingboing:

“When Peter got out of the car and questioned the nature of the search, the gang of border guards subjected him to a beating, restrained him and pepper sprayed him. At the end of it, local police laid a felony charge of assault against a federal officer against Peter. On Wednesday, he posted bond and walked across the border to Canada in shirtsleeves (he was released by Port Huron officials with his car and possessions locked in impound, into a winter storm that evening). He's home safe. For now. But he has to go back to Michigan to face the charge brought against him.”

Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/afterword/archive/2009/12/11/canadian-sci-fi-author-beaten-imprisoned-at-us-border-crossing.aspx

[arcadian]

1. I'd say fuck it , and never come back.

The United States is filled with assholes. By the way, "assault against a federal officer" = "we kicked his ass and realized we were doing something wrong so we made this shit up."

[shadowknows69]

2. Bingo. U.S. Border guard are a bunch of power mad thugs.

[arcadian]

4. I've dealt with them in Texas.

They got so pissed when they found paraphernalia in my car but couldn't find my stash. The reason? I didn't have a stash and the pipe wasn't mine. they threatened to take my truck away from me among other things. Border Patrol = Nazi dickheads.

[timeforpeace]

27. "questioned the nature of the search" Not a menber of Mensa apparently.

[Mopar151]

28. We aren't supposed to question the goons? n/t

[truedelphi]

34. Sadly if we value our lives and property, we should not question them

We have this whole generation of PSTD droids from our wars serving as police. We are to do as we are told, just like the Iraqi paoepl had to, and we muct shut up while we comply.

Spending several tours of duty kicking int he doors of peopel and arresitng them over nothing is a sorry preparation for life as an American police officer.

[Alcibiades]

69. Don't forget the waterboarding

Because if it's OK in a war zone, it's OK at home, too.

The folks who thought torture was Ok don't understand it really is a slippery slope, that the laws that protect folks from our military need to be applied so that, when the MP's get out and become regular cops, they don't do this to innocent people, even Canadians.

[michreject]

73. You're not supposed to exit the vehicle, unless asked

It's taken as a sign of aggression for possible attack against the officer. The outcome is the same in all similar circumstance.

[Pavulon]

86. Not if they find a fucking bowl, they will look for weed.

I am sure that police never hear "not mine" with dope. Poster is lucky they did not strip his car and charge him with the crime. Yes it is a stupid law, but it is still a law.

[harmonicon]

57. you are HILARIOUS!!!

Too cute.

[ezdidit]

72. Customs & Immigration...at all?

I thought you have to pass through Customs & Immigration at ALL U.S. borders... If that's not the "nature of the search," then wtf are borders for?

btw, I had to show my picture ID to get on Amtrak from NYC to Baltimore in '05, like some pre-1989 USSR internal travel document. I was told, "No picture ID, no ticket." But nobody was going to beat me up if I changed my mind and went by bus instead for 30% less.

[Bette Noir]

51. Agreed.

I've dealt with them in California. The ones in Arizona are really scary. I'd hate to see the ones in Texas, if they're any worse than the ones in Arizona. The ones in California are bad enough.

[susanr516]

84. You're lucky they didn't strip your car down to the chassis

And give it back to you in a thousand pieces. Probable cause and all that bs. Texas Border Patrol makes Nazis look all warm and fuzzy, especially if you have an Hispanic surname. I live 150 miles from the TX/Mexico border, and I see Border Patrol vehicles/officers up here at least twice a month.

[winyanstaz]

45. They are locking the doors shut....on both sides of the borders..

[Fire1sKid]

30. ++++++++1

:toast:

[Enthusiast]

63. I'm with you.

While they beat you up if you try to cover your head they call it assult.

[ezdidit]

70. correct, sir...that is S.O.P.

[penndragon69]

93. Sounds like Blackwater

is also in charge of our boarder security.

[JerseygirlCT]

101. Had that happen to a friend with a NY cop, too

Seems to be the way they cover abuse.

[Libertas1776]

3. Why would he return?

He should be complaining to his government. I'm pretty certain his rights as a Canadian citizen were violated. Then again, the Harper govt and our govt are all too similar these days so maybe there's no one he can complain to.

[shadowknows69]

8. You don't really have rights at the border apparently

I was strip searched for being in a friends car they deemed suspicious. He wasn't.

[Powdered Toast Man]

29. No, you don't.

I've seen border patrol literally disassemble a vehicle. I don't mean search; I mean disassemble.

The nice thing... after they take your car apart, you have to pay to have it re-assembled.

[Fire1sKid]

33. Seen it too

[Joe Chi Minh]

89. That is shameful and almost beyond belief.

[24601]

46. That's accurate regarding searches crossing the border - they

can search everybody to any detail without needing a warrant. You still have a right, however, to not be assulted.

[defendandprotect]

62. "You still have a right, however, to not be assaulted" . . . !!!!!

Wow -- !!

[24601]

67. Tough to read your response - Did I split an infinitive or something? n/t

[defendandprotect]

75. Oh -- just astonishment at what is happening ---

and the thought that you have had to stress that we have a right to not be assaulted!!!

And, it seems that will depend now how lucky you are as you cross the border!!

:)

[Spazito]

92. Actually, the Harper cabal is VERY similar to the Bush cabal...

not the Obama administration.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. I hope that this does financially ruin him!! Hopefully he will get a great lawyer..

or ACLU...and after he is acquitted, he will sue for false arrest and imprisonment....and charge the border police with assault

[inna]

7. why do you hope that this will financially ruin him???

[BrklynLiberal]

17. oops! Sorry. I meant I hope it does NOT ruin him..I am too tired..going to bed. Cannot even type

I am on his side 100%


EDIT: See. I had to go back and fix this post too.

Gnight.

[inna]

6. this is crazy.

What kind of country have we become??

[Barack_America]

9. It's never been a good idea to question a customs search.

Power lust amongst Customs officers is nothing new. Everyone who crosses the border regularly knows the best policy is to hand over your documents and STFU, answering only the questions posed to you. Give them any reason to flag you and rip apart your car and they'll take it. It's always been this way at the border crossings Canada shares with the Detroit area. 9/11 and the rise of the DHS certainly hasn't helped though.

I'm not saying that this practice is right, I'm just saying that it has always been in one's best personal interests to simply comply.

[Fire1sKid]

35. Ima Detroiter and I can definitely vouch for that.

[katkat]

55. customs, street police

Not too smart, and pretty soon very arrogant, even if they didn't start out that way. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Hence it becomes okay/an automatic reaction to beat the shit out of anyone who might ask Why do you want me to do that or whatever a normal person might ask instead of leaping to comply in a nanosecond.

[Goldstein1984]

54. I recommend reading a great book...

"Stripping Bare the Body: Politics, Violence, War" by Mark Danner.

It describes in detail what kinds of nation we have become, and why it happens.

It's sort of a "Lord of the Lies: Geopolitical Edition"

But, if you just want an opinion, the people tolerate what they tolerate out of fear. Border guards, and people in positions of authority in general, become what they become because power corrupts.

I don't mean to pain with two broad a brush here, because I know some great cops, but I'm thinking back many years to high school, and the kids who enrolled in Police Science and went on ride-alongs every Friday night were the ones who had scores to settle--not my first choices for being turned loose with badge and a loaded handgun.

[Peace Patriot]

10. Appalling! nt

[Stargleamer]

11. Usually such animosity is reserved for Mexicans not Canadians

but every now and then, I guess. . .

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

22. they have been cracking down on the Canadian border to show they aren't racist

I am an American working in Canada, when I arrived in Canada in 2006 I rarely had problems at the border returning to the US, now I regularly get the third degree.

There is one particular korean US Customs asshole at the Calgary airport I really want to smack - and since US Customs can't actually refuse entry to an American if they are particularly pissed off they just get the local police involved and at the very least make sure you miss your flight.

We also have a woman working for us in Canada, who previously worked in the US on an H1B visa, she now has a 10 year B-1 visa. Every time she tries to enter the US she is treated like she is going to walk away from a $120,000 a year job in Calgary to clean motel rooms. It is laughable, but because she is unmarried and has not lived in her homeland in more than a decade she is considered "rootless" and a potential illegal immigrant.

On the other hand Canada Customs tends to be stupid as opposed to belligerent. There are literally teenagers working for Canada Customs. In my passport I have an expired visa for South Africa - despite the fact I also presented my work permit this chick was like "yeah, your visa is expired", really, so I got on the wrong plane in Salt Lake City and I am in Cape Town?

[MetaTrope]

12. Haven't we given our border guards tasers yet?

How can they be expected to do their jobs with only mace and truncheons?

[saigon68]

64. Mace and Truncheons

Well Mace is a step up from the Gestapo and the Capos at the camps.

Truncheons -- ya, they had those in the "good old days"

[Michigan-Arizona]

13. I'm surprised he was allowed to walk across the border

A couple of year's ago I was going to walk across the border from Canada to Michigan & they (Canadian Police) told me it was against the law to do that. This was at the Windsor-Detroit crossing.

[Arctic Dave]

14. I think it is time all these fascist groups get stripped of their authority

The police, customs, military, FBI, etc.

[FiveGoodMen]

15. Way past time.

But all it takes is one news anchor saying, "Crazy communist drug gangs are out to rape your daughter," and all of America is on board for more fascism.

[Arctic Dave]

16. That would be funny if it wasn't so true.

[TexasObserver]

18. Recommend

[glinda]

19. If true, the President owes him and Canada an apology.

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. Is there a facepalm smiley?

Ay yay yay

[intheflow]

26. Here ya go:

[BolivarianHero]

48. Harper won't accept it...

He gets off on this crap.

[rd_kent]

88. For what?

[RoccoR5955]

21. The Police, whatever flavor is just another gang.

They use gang tactics, and disobey the laws, just as gangs. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.

[Bette Noir]

52. +1

[Waiting For Everyman]

23. He should countersue the hell out of the cops' agency.

Always countersue. I can't see how the cops could document their "injuries" since it's a lie. Make them show proof of same, or the writer wins. Big. If it was me, I'd do it pro se if necessary. The reporter has legal rights too, but only if he challenges this. He shouldn't let them get away with it. I sure wouldn't.

I've brought a bunch of defensive countersuit cases on my own without legal help, over the years (federal and state, one I'm doing right now), and won every one of them so far. It takes researching the law, but a writer should be good at that.

Want to bet on whether the cops are subcontractors to boot? It wouldn't shock me.

[Zorro]

24. Chris Rock should do another public service announcement

"How to not get your ass kicked by US Border Guards"

[stray cat]

25. Any valid witnesses or just heresay?

[PJPhreak]

31. I was Mt Bike Touring in Southern Az a few years ago,

as I rode towards Bisbee from Naco Az I was pulled over by the Border Patrol who promptly accused me of being a drug smuggler.

Picture this if you will,

I am 6'3"

I weigh 140

I look and sound like the New Yorker that I am

I'm riding a super tall (23" C to C) Bright Purple Miyata Ridgerunner Mt Bike with Ortleib Pannier and Racks both front and rear,Fully XT equipped,Mavic 231 Wheelset on Conti Town&Country Tires...Not your average Mt Bike by any means.

I am wearing Tye-Dye for visibility...Between the Bright Tye-Dye and the Purple Mt Bike anyone could see me from Mars,Hell from Saturn for that matter,without a telescope even!

When I asked why in Gods Green Earth they thought that I was smuggling Anything considering my appearance and the fact it was 2-3 Pm. as opposed to 2-3 Am,All they said is "STFU Hippie". Any semi-smart Human would have taken one look at me and thought "If He is smuggling anything,He is a TOTAL FOOL!"

After ripping my gear apart and wasting more than an hours time, all they had to say is "Your too close to Mexico...Thats why we stopped you.

So I guess its a criminal profile to be Bike Touring in one of the more "Touristy" areas of Southern Az while wearing a Tye-Dye? Sheesh!

[AlbertCat]

38. while wearing a Tye-Dye?

Well obviously you are a drug-addled hippy. I mean ...tie dye...

[PJPhreak]

60. A Tye-Dye is one of the most...

Visible shirts one can wear while riding...the point is to be seen,I don't wanna be a hood ornament on some dumb asses Hummer!

You must not get out there with traffic on a bicycle much...The more visible I am the longer I will stay Alive!

[Bette Noir]

53. I know what you mean.

I go to Organ Pipe every spring with a woman friend, to see the wildflowers in bloom. That's what the park is for, right? There are signs everywhere saying not to hike or leave your car, and the park is crawling with Border Patrol and even Marines. My friend is white, from the Midwest, and not bothered. I'm Latino, from California, and it gives me the creeps.

[NashVegas]

78. A Recent Tale From a Friend

Who was sent to the emergency room by a pair of PD, moonlighting as rent-a-cops, has gone a LONG long way to make me stop questioning what people who have these run-ins are leaving out of their stories.

It is really freaking nuts.

[diamidue]

81. Works both ways.

At the time I emigrated to Canada, the Canadian Border Patrol (on the New York border) was knee-deep in a scandal involving Canadian guards demanding sex from some women in exchange for border papers.

My own experience at that immigration station is this: Upon learning that I could type, the guards rudely told me that I should "type my own damn immigration paperwork then". They pointed me to a typewriter and told me to get to typing. I think it was because I was young, alone and vulnerable.

Funny. When I lived on the Mexican side of the Border and had to return to the USA now and then, I never once had a problem with immigration. But I know plenty of others who did.

[boppers]

104. Desert riding during the daytime: Strike one.

You didn't indicate the time of year, but anybody going riding, out in the desert, mid-day, raises eyebrows. (locals avoid often avoid too much sunlight exercise, it's hot, mornings and evenings are safer).
Expensive bike in a poorer area: Strike two. Sounds like it was a shiny thing, indicating further being out of place.
Tye Dye in southern AZ: Strike three. Standard dope-head outfit. Southern Az does have a *lot* of riders, but they tend to wear typical riding jerseys.
New York accent: Strike four.
Proximity to known drug routes (you were biking from the border): Strike five.

What sane reason could there be for a New York hippie to be biking Naco->Bisbee, mid day, *without* the reason being drugs? I'm sure you had one, but to others, it might appear kind of odd.

Oh, and WRT "TOTAL FOOL", yeah, a lot of people who drug run *are* total fools.

[PJPhreak]

106. Hummmm,

1."Locals avoid often avoid too much sunlight exercise, it's hot, mornings and evenings are safer"

Mid October...Cooler weather

2."Expensive bike in a poorer area: Strike two. Sounds like it was a shiny thing, indicating further being out of place."

Not at all unusual for the average trail Rider in the Tucson area.Think Gates Pass or the Whoop-De-Doo Trail out of Summerhaven.(Mt Lemmon)

3.Tye Dye in southern AZ: Strike three. Standard dope-head outfit. Southern Az does have a *lot* of riders, but they tend to wear typical riding jerseys.

At $60-$80 bucks a pop cycling jerseys are a bit spendy...Tye-Dye $10-$15 and just as visible. Plus I ride "Fat-Tire". Not Campy equipped "Thin-Tire"...I'm not that affluent.

4.New York accent: Strike four.

Sorry can't help where I was raised. Kinda stuck with this one

5.Proximity to known drug routes (you were biking from the border): Strike five.

When one makes the Tucson/Elephant Butte/Tubac/Naco/Patagoniana/Bisbee/Tombstone/Wilcox/Tuson Loop you are kinda stuck using the roads that are avalible...Most smart Bike Tourers know better that to go Cross-Country in this area of the US


My point was about Profiles...And the fact tha LEO/Border Patrol use them even if the Profile Person isn't doing anything wrong.

It matters not weather you are Black,Hispanic,Oriental,Muslim,Eskimo,Native American or a Deadhead Hippie....Profiling is wrong,in a lot of cases Illegal.

[Fire1sKid]

32. I would make a deal with the fucked up judge they are probably gonna put him in front of

AND PROPOSE THAT IF THEY DROP ALL THE CHARGES I WILL NEVER RETURN TO THIS COUNTRY!

[bertman]

36. Obviously another stoopid Canadian who thought he was entering "the world's freest nation

and greatest democracy" and didn't realize he was dealing with the New and Improved Border Patrol.

[RobinA]

37. I Recently

ran into Border Patrol well south of the border while returning to Philadelphia from Lake Placid, NY. I was taking the scenic route through the Adirondaks (sp?) and came upon this posse in the middle of freakin' nowhere at 10:00 in the morning. I thought, Holy sh*t, I took a wrong turn. They had a road stop. I didn't know what I was supposed to do, since we don't have Border Patrol in Philadelphia and I was pretty sure I wasn't at the border. There were no other cars on the road I was on, it was just me and them. I'm lucky I didn't just drive on through, because they didn't have the usual signage set up like the cops do around here when they are doing a sobriety checkpoint. The guy was nice, if official. I guess I'm too middle-aged these days to raise copper suspicion. Hey, that's a thought....

[AlbertCat]

39. C'mon! His books aren't THAT bad!

[The abyss]

40. Conditioning

This is all about conditioning and testing if the “herd” is properly reacting.

We have conditioned our troopers to see american citizens as an enemy to be subjected to the rules of occupation.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=152x25148

We have conditioned our troopers to use live fire on american buildings and structures since 2000.
Too many links – just look up the terms “urban warrior” & “maneuvers”. Most will date to the late 90s

They are conditioning american citizens to see armed troops on their streets. Conditioning them in driving past an armored vehicle while the barrel of an automatic weapon tracks them through the intersection.

Conditioning the civilian PD has, I think, been a more difficult task. The federally assigned forces have been re-programmed for some time.

Giving away or donating “cool stuff” to civilian PD actually goes back to the early 70s when cities could just-say-yes and receive M16s & M79s for nothing. Now, just why would an american PD have any need for a case of M79 launchers and a couple truckloads of beehive rounds?

This is a long and carefully orchestrated game.

Occasionally they run a test – did we pass?

[winyanstaz]

42. exactly...sheesh....

We now live in Amerikkka..land of the not so frikkin free and ruled by fascist Corporations.
We lost without a shot being fired. All it took was to blow up three buildings and down we fell.
It makes me ashamed of our judicial system when thugs like that are allowed to get away with this evil.

[leftstreet]

50. That's creepy

Thanks for posting that link. I hadn't seen it.

:hi:

[The abyss]

97. :hi: back at ya

Take the time to check out terms "urban warrior" & "maneuvers"

They were shooting up buildings all along the US/Mex border towns; always with the permission of the town fathers, of course. I seem to remember they did an "assault" on a structure in Atlanta, can't find a link at the moment.

Probably off topic for this thread, but examples of where we are right now.

[Hekate]

41. Christ on a trailer hitch, Cheney Bush Ashcroft Rove Rummy have left a stain on this nation

Don't know whether to :cry: or :argh:

Hekate

[winyanstaz]

43. The stain will never come clean until they are brought to trial.

[katkat]

56. stain

I don't see the Obama administration cleaning it up...

Some sensible person needs to redo "Homeland" Security from the ground up. Still get
Nazi-era chills from "Homeland."

[harmonicon]

58. as you should - it scares the shit out of me (nt)

[RedCloud]

44. Sounds like they forgot they were public servants not our overlords.

Off with their heads, I say.

[BolivarianHero]

47. Ever wonder why Mohawks don't want armed guards at border crossing?

Imagine what they would do to an anonymous first nations guy...

[wial]

49. one positive action

would be to work for the banning of anyone who has served at checkpoints in America's illegal oil wars from becoming border guards.

God, America needs to be taken down a few notches, but I fear it would not go quietly. Probably better to keep things as stable as possible and hope they figure out how to educate children sometime in the next millenium. give peace a chance and all that.

but wow does my blood boil. those stupid arrogant pricks. I guess the SF community can collectively make fun of them from now on. I already did my part, in advance -- had a scene in something I wrote about EFF helicopters driving off US MIBs at the Canadian border as my protagonists tried to escape this police-state of a country. Were I to edit it for publication I'd research those particular guards and give them extremely embarrassing back stories as grounded in truth as possible. If they want to write fiction, well, so can we.

[sabrina 1]

59. No wonder tourism is down.

We are becoming a third world nation with goons attacking people all over the place. Who would want to come here anymore?

Canadians should organize a boycott and refuse to visit the US until they get an apology for this thuggery. Money is all our government cares about. If beating up visitors costs them money, it'll stop. Otherwise, the thugs will keep on doing it.

[defendandprotect]

61. And this isn't American fascism . . . amazing!!

[Myrina]

65. Maybe they were afraid he was trying to smuggle BOOKS into the country!

After 8 years of Bush, some feds may not have gotten the message yet that books are ok to have in America now.

[SouthernLiberal]

80. According to a friend of his......

this happened when he was LEAVING the US.

[Pavulon]

66. Should be tape of incident. So we can see who the asshole really is..

I generally reserve judgement. I use to cross that border all the time and never had a problem.

[WriteDown]

68. Exactly...

A little scary how people can be worked into a frenzy by a one sided account. I'll wait for the video then I'll get angry.

[CreekDog]

74. I was in a 2 hour line at the border near Vancouver

in all that time, officers walked through the entire line. i saw ONLY ONE car get searched.

black person was driving.

after manhandling the car, they moved on.

:shrug:

[samsingh]

71. sick

[scentopine]

76. After 911 Americans foolishly voted for a police state

wire tapping, torture, endless budgets for weapons at local and federal levels, new agencies to monitor our travel, spending, internet, wireless and wired communications, computer systems to automatically assess as a threat or not, new rules allowing torture and continued rendition, restrictions on free speech, overwhelming force against small protests, incentives for corporations to pass information to the government. It goes on and on and on.

Polls show that the most democrats have never had their testicles electrocuted on trumped up charges by sadist government contract employees or employees of the government so there is no real need for a change in policy.

Freedom - its not a fucking pony.

[Oak2004]

107. Only one catch with your analysis:

Given that both parties support this agenda, voters never had an option to not vote for it.

Not that they would necessarily know of any options: our free press has been cheering it all on. Patriotic duty, you know.

[billyoc]

77. America should be quarrantined.

[zenprole]

79. Release the Tapes

"Assaulting an officer"? I'm sure. There must be at least two cameras that captured an author beating down on a dozen heavily-armed border guards.

As for precedent, Maher Arar couldn't get satisfaction for suffering far worse than Mr. Watts. If his finances will be wiped by contesting this, Watts should boycott the trial, as the best to hope for through the legal system is a draw. (See also Canadian guitarist Alex Lifeson who, along with his son, was brutalized by local cops in Florida.) Going into hiding wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

I can't fail to mention the political correctness on this site about the treatment of cops; when the tables are turned, regardless of the context, law enforcement suddenly becomes the finest, God-fearing purveyors of violence in the country and the crying towels come out. With this case in light (and dozens of others in every city), I'm again sayin' it ain't so and I'd feel a lot better if my fellow citizens weren't under the influence.

One should conduct all interactions with LE as if handling a poisonous reptile, and nevermind that nonsense called the Bill of Rights. Further reading on this topic: "Beat The Heat" by Katya Komisaruk and "Our Enemies In Blue" by Kristian Williams.

[Pavulon]

85. "Our enemies in blue", still waiting for a tape.

until then we have a claim, thats it. Just a quick fyi, at borders law enforcement has greatly different rules.

[Blue_Tires]

82. what the shit??

first Amy Goodman and now this??

[earcandle]

83. NorthCom at work, and we gota SouthCom too! meanwhile, our real armies are where?

[Greyhound]

87. It's just lucky for us that the President has decided that we shouldn't have any rights or recourse

so that we can be kept safe from those evil "terrists". Reform of the MCA and Patriot Act was "off the table" 5 minutes into the new administration.

Is it fascism yet?

[AngryAmish]

90. While I support beating Canadians on pricipal...

[grahamhgreen]

91. I will not make a baby seal joke here. Because it is rather serious.

[polly7]

94. Wow. Yeah, it is serious, and sickening.

Sorta like picking off wolves from the air or any of the other * done to defenseless animals that we protest against all the time. What's it got to do with the OP?

Joking about beating and clubbing Canadians now?

[Pavulon]

98. Maybe like the lady who claimed TSA took her baby

except when the tape came out it turned out she was a bald faced liar. I am waiting for the tape.

[polly7]

99. I said the seal club issue was serious, and sickening ..

replying to another post, which was supposed to, I assume, excuse was allegedly done to this man because he was Canadian. Can't think of any other reason it was posted, that includes the post above, joking about beating Canadians. Tough people on the internet are hilarious. I too will wait for more info on the story itself.

[Pavulon]

100. Post in wrong place, oops(nt)

[sailor65]

95. 150+ crossings a year for the last 3 at least

most of them over the Blue Water Bridge, and nary a problem other than lost time. Officers on both sides have been at least professional if not always pleasant.
I look forward to the rest of the facts, which will undoubtedly be less one-sided than boingboing.

[marshall]

96. I've crossed many borders--you don't ask questions and you do as you're told

That's the way it is where I've crossed--Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, China, not to mention the Mexico/Belize border.

But a higher standard is expected of the US--we always have to be the most polite, the quickest, not to mention the richest.

[Garam_Masala]

102. Exactly...I had very few problems at border crossings since

I politely respond to what ever they ask me. Usually
the border inspectors are quite professional. I only
ran into one azzhole at the Detroit, Mich crossing who
gave me hard time for not carrying passport with me.
(In those days it was not a requirement for US citizens to
carry passport between US-Canada crossing if you were a
US citizen, I was, a naturalzed one).

Now it is a requirement at all crossings to carry passports.

[marshall]

103. I couldn't imagine confronting a guard at the Cambodian or Laotian borders

Maybe it was just that I was a foreigner, but they looked far sterner and less flexible that the folks who staff the borders over here.

And I was shocked to see the level of security at the Mexico/Belize border. It made the Mexico/Texas border look like a school crossing.

[hedgehog]

105. Is there a single report of this incident that doesn't link back to Dr. Watts' original story?

Maybe it happened exactly as he said, but I'd like more information.