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Sci-Fi Author Peter Watts Beaten, Charged During Border Crossing

Posted by Soulskill on from the canadian-writers-are-a-threat-to-freedom-eh dept.

JoeGee writes "On December 8th, Canadian sci-fi author Peter Watts, author of the Rifters trilogy and Blindsight, was crossing the US/Canadian border at Port Huron, Michigan when he was involved in an altercation with US Border Patrol agents. According to Watts, he was beaten, left half-naked in a cold cell, and finally dumped on the Canadian side of the border with no coat. A legal consultant from the Electronic Frontier Foundation was successful in helping a civil rights lawyer in Michigan free Watts. Watts faces US charges of assaulting a federal officer. Based on the accounts, one can assume Watts did so by hitting the officer's hand with his face. If convicted, Watts faces two years in a US Federal prison."

14 of 1,079 comments (clear)

  1. Wow, by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 4, Funny

    They should give the border patrol the Nobel Peace Prize for keeping America safe.

    1. Re:Wow, by dryeo · · Score: 3, Funny

      I guess I just don't understand the reference to Nightwatch. I doubt that anyone thinks the American border guards are vampires as in the movie, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Watch_(2004_film).
      Anyways my apologies if I've misunderstood you. It seems to get harder and harder to communicate with Americans as their fork of English moves further away from English.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
  2. first reports are often wrong by Presto+Vivace · · Score: 5, Funny

    on the other hand, this may be another victory in the war on tourism.

  3. Re:Searching for 'Watt, charged' pun by SilverHatHacker · · Score: 2, Funny

    I for one am shocked.

    --
    Funny may not give karma, but +5 Informative never made anyone snort coffee out their nose.
  4. Re:Charges... by ddegirmenci · · Score: 5, Funny

    That actually gave me the idea that I might, somehow, be able to cause a stack overflow in the police. I guess I'll be trying that the next time I'm arrested...

  5. Re:Searching for 'Watt, charged' pun by Ginger+Unicorn · · Score: 5, Funny

    watt charged with resistance

    --
    (1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
  6. Re:Searching for 'Watt, charged' pun by DurendalMac · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe they thought that he'd stolen some precious joules.

  7. Re:Put him away... by maxume · · Score: 3, Funny

    And make sure Neal Stephenson wrote it.

    --
    Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  8. Was there a backwards 'B' on his face? by rolfwind · · Score: 2, Funny

    You know, for Border Guard?

  9. hitting an officers hand with your face? by ILongForDarkness · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well if he was dumb enough to do that then he deserves what he got.

  10. Re:Searching for 'Watt, charged' pun by colinrichardday · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is that the current state of the charges, or is there potential for more?

  11. Re:Charges... by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fuck the Police!

    I FTP every day.

    Your private life is your own business.

    --
    I am not a crackpot.
  12. Re:Boarder Security by DieByWire · · Score: 2, Funny

    As a Canadian I will never understand why the US is so eager about its boarder security with Canada.

    Remember USAir 1549? Canadian geese, wise guy. You won't get one past us again.

    --
    Never shake hands with a man you meet in a fertility clinic.
  13. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion