Dr Peter Watts, Canadian science fiction writer, beaten and arrested at US border

[Bonobo]

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/11/dr-peter-watts-canad.html

I have read some of this author. He is a clever guy who has made his work available for free download. Like his work or not, this is a travesty. I sent him $50 for his legal defense. Please consider supporting him with well wishes or money. The man is not rich and needs help.

----------------------------

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.

Peter's friends are raising money for his legal defense. I just sent him CAD$1,000, because this is absolutely my biggest nightmare: imprisoned in a foreign country for a trumped-up offense against untouchable border cops. I would want my friends to help me out if it ever happened to me.

Update: Here's more from Peter, in his own words: "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.

"In some other universe I am warm and content and not looking at spending two years in jail for the crime of having been punched in the face."

[StarfarerBill]

1. If only today's America were a figment of some writer's imagination.

I hope Watts can get some sort of justice, but I doubt it; thugs like those who assaulted and arrested him have the power these days.

[Libertas1776]

2. First that thing

with Amy Goodman, I think it was, being harshly interrogated by Canadian guards and now this. What the fuck is with BOTH the US and Canada?

[Thickasabrick]

3. OMG.....K&R nt

[Bonobo]

8. BTW, Watts is a HUGE Jethro Tull fan.

Thought you might like to know. He dedicated a few of his books to Ian and often quotes his songs.

[Thickasabrick]

17. Really? That made my day.!! Thank you.!! nt

[hyphenate]

21. He's also a friend to the many stray cats

in Toronto. Any animal lover is a friend of mine!

[Bonobo]

25. Ian Anderson is a big big cat fan too! Is there a connection there?

I am too.

Brought home 2 strays from Japan to America that are old now.

[hyphenate]

38. When I was eleven

I smuggled a kitten across the Canadian-American border. And I didn't get arrested! Of course, that was in the mid sixties, so things were a lot different then. And it wasn't in the Point Huron/Detroit area, it was in Bangor, ME. My brothers and I were pretending to be asleep in the back of the station wagon, and all I could think of was what was going to happen if the guards heard a little meow.

[Ignis]

29. I did not know that.

Nifty!

[Bonobo]

30. I was sure surprised.

I'm a Tull nut -and I mean nut.

I was so surprised when I was reading one of his books and came across a direct quote from some obscure Tull song. I think it was "Occasional Demons". Then I came across many other references. Clearly his favorite band.

He's not a GREAT writer, but he is a good one and knows real science too. That combined with a very dark view of the future and some good, original ideas makes for a good read (plus the free downloads online!)

[Ignis]

39. Tull nuttery is A-OK with me.

:toast:

And I'm sure willing to give a good writer a chance. Any recommendations?

[cali]

4. Fucking assholes

This is unconscionable.

[PM Martin]

5. Law "enforcement" needs to

have their hands hog-tied.
Just an observation.

[hedgehog]

6. I see three possibilities here:

1. The US Border Patrol was given instructions to identify and beat the shit out of a relatively obscure Canadian writer ( face it, SF writers are at best, relatively obscure) by parties unknown for reasons unknown.

2. The US Border Patrol was given instructions to beat the shit out of a random Canadian or agents chose to do so on their own.

3. Or maybe, just maybe, some dude who thought he was above the law failed to follow instructions when his car was pulled over for search and then proceeded to make a bad situation worse by mouthing off to the Customs officers.

Here's what I can't figure out: when did US Customs agents start inspecting vehicles leaving the US? In the past, you went through Canadian customs heading north and US customs heading south.

[hedgehog]

9. I just checked Google Earth - as near as i can tell, at the Peace Bridge Crossing

in Buffalo, NY, there are NO US officers checking cars going into Canada, only cars arriving from Canada.

On edit - my mistake - when I went to the link, the story is that the car was stopped by US Border Patrol near the border, not Customs agents at the border.

[cali]

11. you have a very good point. In the dozens and dozens of times

I've crossed the border into Canada, there were no stops by U.S. border patrol.

[hedgehog]

14. I can provide this context - here's what went down near port huron 2 days before:

Sanilac Drug Task Force makes bust
By STACY LANGLEY, Tribune Staff Writer
Published: Monday, December 7, 2009 11:27 AM EST
SANILAC COUNTY — On Tuesday, more than $8,500 in cash was found inside a secret compartment in the vehicle used by two Canadian men suspected of drug smuggling.

According to William Gray of the Sanilac County Drug Task Force, while investigators were processing the 2009 Toyota seized on Nov. 6 during the arrest of the two Canadian suspects at the Sandusky airport, investigators noticed an anomaly in the rear floor area of the Toyota. Further investigation led to the discovery of a secret compartment under a false floor built into the rear storage well of the vehicle.

*
Gray described the compartment as constructed from 1/8-inch welded steel plates and measured 36 inches by 39 inches and was 11 inches deep. The compartment was disguised to appear exactly like a factory standard Toyota floor. Access into the compartment was through use of a remote control device that activated two small hydraulic lifts which raised the false floor to expose the compartment’s interior.

Inside the compartment, investigators located $8,500 in cash as well as trace amounts of powder cocaine, which indicates a very large amount of cocaine had been stored in the compartment at some point in time,” Gray said in a press release to the Tribune.

http://www.michigansthumb.com/articles/2009/12/10/news/police_-_courts/doc4b1d2c4ee038a316212301.txt

[Bobbieo]

13. Customs are inspecting cars on the American side going into Mexico. too

checking for weapons.

[Fumesucker]

18. An obscure (not even relatively really) writer thinks he's above the law?

Why would that be?

We have seen enough incidents in the US of law enforcement out of control and on a rampage for no apparent reason for it not to be out of the realm of possibility that it happened once again.

Do you recall the state patrol officer who pulled over an ambulance and put the driver in a headlock?

[Bonobo]

19. I recall that.

Uniforms seem to affect brain chemistry. Could it be the synthetic fibers?

[Fumesucker]

20. Oh it has to do with fiber all right.. But it's more a *lack* of fiber..

Moral fiber that is.

[backscatter712]

24. Could also be the anabolic steroids... n/t

[backscatter712]

23. Gee, being sarcastic with a cop is deserving of being shit-kicked, pepper-sprayed & charged with...

felony assault on a federal officer.

It must have been a real threat for those roid-raging thugs, having Watts' face smash into their fists and boots over and over again. Why they may have to take a few days off and go on workman's comp!

Tell me, were you born this stupid, or did you work long and hard to achieve it?

I can't believe you fall for this authoritarian idiocy.

[Pavulon]

32. Last one of these had every crying for a lady who blogged the TSA took her baby,

turned out it was just a flat out lie. All on tape. So I will wait for the tape.

[Bonobo]

34. You're not really waiting though. You are climbing a soap box. nt

[Pavulon]

35. Nope. I am waiting for the tape. Not a blog post, like last time (nt)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. I'd like to see the report.

And also all the video footage from all the cameras they have at all the border crossings.

[ThomCat]

28. This was apparently Before the border crossing.

This was American Homeland Security stopping people before they reached the Canadian Border Patrol, so that would very likely be before they were covered by the cameras.

The US has recently been stopping people leaving the country as well as people entering the country, as this shows. You can't always count on everything being recorded when they set up roadblocks.

[dgibby]

10. Wonder if Amy Goodman is aware of this?

Bet she'd be all over it, considering what she just went through.

[reggie the dog]

12. Why would the US border patrol check you when you LEAVE?

Shouldn't they check you when you arrive? and let the Canadian border patrol deal with you when you arrive at their booth? I went to Canada ten years ago and it was like everywhere I have been outside the Schengen zone, you got checked at the country you arrive in, not the country you left.

[hedgehog]

15. I was confused, also. He was stopped by a border patrol car near the border,

not at the border crossing. Going through back issues of the local newspaper, there's a lot of drug smuggling in the area.

[hedgehog]

16. Looking around with the Google, all I can find are references back to the

author's original unsubstantiated statement. Maybe things did go down exactly as he said. On the other hand, how often have we seen the Freepers and their buddies going nuts over incidents that never happened, or at least didn't happen exactly as reported? I'd like to see the arrest report and an unbiased report as well.

[niyad]

22. note to the "hate us for our freedoms" bunch. we don't have any.

[Echo In Light]

26. Don't ya get a kick outta the fuckwits who actually believe this sick country's rhetoric?

If this country wasn't so astonishingly, embarrassingly fucking ignorant, more 'consumers' would realize the greatest threat to their free-dumb is their own fascist govt.

[mistertrickster]

27. He does look kinda liberal though. Look at that hair. (sarcasm)

Keep us posted.

This is an outrage.

Was he crossing in MI? We should get the Michigan Senators on it.

[Pavulon]

31. No tape, then we have a TSA ate my baby event.

Will be interesting when the whole story comes out.

[Bonobo]

33. Yeah, probably just another case of a writer assaulting half a dozen armed cops.

Yawn. Those poor cops. SF writers are some of the most vicious thugs on the planet!

[Pavulon]

36. Yep. Police kick my ass all the time..for no reason.

I will wait for the tape to draw a conclusion. Will be interesting to see of he was tuned up and started a fight or if this is legit. boingboing not a news source.

[roamer65]

37. The border is becoming a real pain to cross.

Make sure you have all the correct paperwork. Canada customs is getting tougher as well.

[mmonk]

40. Two articles of interest:

The Obama administration is trying to ease Canadians' concerns that by crossing the U.S. border they risk their right to privacy and the abandonment of their information to Big Brother databases.

-snip-

However, Canadians were reminded that U.S. border searches can be intrusive last week when, only hours after Ms. Callahan spoke in Ottawa, Toronto science fiction writer Peter Watts was stopped as he tried to leave the U.S. He later complained he was assaulted and arrested when he tried to ask border officers why they were searching his car.

-snip-

Mr. Watts said in an interview yesterday that what happened to him was more akin to police brutality than Big Brother information gathering. "But I have to admit there is this crawly feeling - they now have access to all my financial data, and more importantly, all my e-mails."

-snip-

Before the Watts incident came to light, Ms. Callahan said she wanted to inform Canadians that there are safeguards in place about the use of seized information, and that Canadians can inquire about the records the Homeland Security Department has collected, make complaints, and correct mistakes, notably through the privacy section of the department's website.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadians-dont-forfeit-right-to-privacy-at-border-obama-official-says/article1399119/

PORT HURON, Mich., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Canadian author
Peter Watts said he did not choke a U.S. border guard during a border crossing despite allegations to the contrary.

The science fiction author maintains he was the one who was assaulted during last week's border incident, alleging U.S. customs officers punched him and used pepper spray on him before arresting him, The Toronto Star reported Sunday.

-snip-

The author said he exited the car and demanded to know why his car was being searched, allegedly prompting Tuesday's conflict.

Police in Port Huron, Mich., insist Watts refused repeated requests to return to his vehicle during the search and became aggressive once officers attempted to handcuff him.

-snip-

http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2009/12/13/Author-Watts-accused-of-choking-guard/UPI-29901260738707/