Canadian SF Author beaten and arrested at Border Crossing.

[PedroSteckecilo]

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

This makes me greatly worry about ever traveling to the US again, how can this kind of crap happen anyway? A beating and possibly 2 years in jail for asking a question, seriously what kinda operation are you guys running down there anyway?

 

[SimuLord]

We're running the kind of operation where you keep your mouth shut and your head down. Where obedience to the state trumps individual liberty, where corruption and power grabs are blunted by the influence of prolefeed on the electorate.

In other words, no place you'd ever WANT to travel to.

 

[Pandalisk]

This is a disgrace, what ESACTLY, did this man do wrong?, assault? somehow i dont think he fits the profile of someone who would go around assaulting Border Cops.

 

[I'mANinja]

You do realize how biased that article was. Why would his friends admit he did anything, and the writer started with "my friend." He may deserve it or he may not.

 

[Aphroditty]

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

This makes me greatly worry about ever traveling to the US again, how can this kind of crap happen anyway? A beating and possibly 2 years in jail for asking a question, seriously what kinda operation are you guys running down there anyway?

Why'd he get out of his car? You never get out of your car unless you're told to, and then you ask a question.

Anyway, obviously it's a problem that needs to be fixed if things occurred just as they were said to. Which they most likely did not, but I doubt there was enough reason to beat down on a Canadian anyway. If there ever is.

EDIT: I meant that I don't believe there is ever a good time for the police/border guard to use force, but honestly you have to a skeptic of everyone. I wouldn't take Peter Watts or the TSA at their word in this.

 

[Mekado]

Hmm, i've never had trouble crossing the US border but i guess the Vermont border guards are more relaxed than the Michigan ones ?

It might be an overzealous border guard, or it might be a mix of that and a smartass comment who lighted up the fire...

 

[AceDiamond]

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

This makes me greatly worry about ever traveling to the US again, how can this kind of crap happen anyway? A beating and possibly 2 years in jail for asking a question, seriously what kinda operation are you guys running down there anyway?

Why'd he get out of his car? You never get out of your car unless you're told to, and then you ask a question.

This. Not that I'm justifying the response of the border guards, in fact I find it disproportionate and way out of line, but he should not have gotten out of his car.

In either case it still reflects badly on our homeland security policies if we have people who act like this guarding our borders.

 

[Spaghetti]

Its a very biased article, but all forms of US security, whether it be at the borders, airport security, immigration desks or Embassy's is SO tight that it's a little scary.

I remember when I went to the US embassy in London to get my Visa, I had to put my stuff through an x-ray and go through a metal detector, like at an airport. Except, only two people were allowed in the room at a time and a Met Officer armed with an MP5 stood by the door. I was terrifird to even sneeze.
And this is just in London! I'd hate to think what the US Embassys in the Middle East look like.

So this story about the author at the border crossing doesn't surprise me all that much. Admittidly he shouldn't have gotten out of his car. But, judging by his picture, the man doesn't exactly look like he's going to pose a threat. Maybe the American policy of "Shock and Awe" spreads to more than just the Middle East?

 

[El Poncho]

I love living on an island , not having to deal with this shit when not even flying, and it's alot easier when flying.

 

[dragontiers]

From the few facts I can pull from the extremely biased article, it sounds to me like it went down like this:

Writer tries to cross border.
Border Patrol stops his car for random(or possibly not so random) search.
Writer gets out of car (first offense)
Writer questions border patrol.
Writer continues to question border patrol when not satisfied (possible second offense)
???(Writer possibly assaults border patrol)
Writer gets gut-punched/pepper sprayed.
Writer gets put in jail/belonging confiscated.
Writer gets released back into Canada pending court date without confiscated items.

Up until I have ??? it sounds fairly routine to me. Without knowing what happened to cause the border patrol to feel threatened by the writer and therefore get him arrested, I can't really comment on whether he deserved it or not. As anyone who has ever been stopped by any law enforcement agent knows, you never get out of a vehicle unless the officer tells you to. Also, the fact that they mention he repeatedly questioned what they were searching for implies he was getting upset and possibly aggressive when they didn't answer him. I can see him possibly doing something the officer might find threatening (i.e. swinging his arms around, refusing to get back in the vehicle when told to, maybe even reaching for something that looked like a weapon). If the officer felt threatened, he was within his rights to use non-lethal force to bring the writer down. In such cases (especially in heightened security areas like border patrols) holding the suspect overnight and seizing any personal belongings is common practice (holding him till he has had a chance to calm down, and seizing the property because if they are getting that worked up, it makes them more suspicious and the belongings may be evidence of some crime). At that point, they let him go back to his country of origin until the court date. The fact that a "blizzard" happened to be going on is not their fault, and it would have been illegal if they had held him until after the "blizzard".
NOTE: This is all based on what little facts I could pull from the article. I made may inferences and assumptions based on the basics of our judicial system. If someone can present me with more info, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[AceDiamond]

Admittidly he shouldn't have gotten out of his car. But, judging by his picture, the man doesn't exactly look like he's going to pose a threat. Maybe the American policy of "Shock and Awe" spreads to more than just the Middle East?

Actually let me tell you a story that my Driver's Ed teacher told the class I was in about getting pulled over. He was driving a delivery van and got pulled over for speeding. He figured that they'd probably want to check the contents of the vehicle so he got out and started removing the boxes. Not more than 10 seconds later he winds up with a gun about an inch from his head and a very pissed off police officer. Why? Because he got out of the vehicle without being told to do so. He's also only about 4'8", so even if he doesn't look threatening, police and so forth can't afford to take that risk. Again, really not trying to justify things (especially given how people on BoingBoing have apparently decided to label all Americans as facist shits in the comments for this story), but I am explaining that getting out of a car at a police stop, border station, etc. without being prompted to do so is an immediate warning flag to officers.

Also this story is why I don't ever reach over for my registration until the officer gets there. I have my license out but I'm not going to make things difficult because reaching towards the glovebox could mean anything (gun, for instance). It's not a power abuse thing, it's just them being protective of themselves. Course, if I got pepper sprayed for reaching for my glovebox, then yeah that's different.

 

[quiet_samurai]

You do realize how biased that article was. Why would his friends admit he did anything, and the writer started with "my friend." He may deserve it or he may not.

This. On the USA side of the border you are dealing with Homeland Security, and they can pretty much do whatever they wish if they even have the slightest provacation of something wrong. Sure sometimes it seems unfair, and yeah they are way OP, but how many terrosrists have they stopped? How many people successfully crossed the border that day without a hitch? I don't think they randomly chose to beat and prosecute this guy for no reason. I'm not choosing sides, but that was a very one sided article.

 

[chronobreak]

Really, how often do you hear about people getting beaten down crossing into the US from Canada? And you're going to question what kind of "operation" we have going on? Don't be absurd. Thousands of people cross every day unharmed, no reason to stir up a commotion over border policy and all that for the sake of a discussion that will just turn into a bunch of people bashing the US for being some sort of "police state".

 

[Doctor Glocktor]

America: Still having the balls to wonder why the world doesn't like them.

 

[AceDiamond]

America: Still having the balls to wonder why the world doesn't like them.

Yes because this is the fault of every citizen of America. We were all there, at that Port Huron Border Crossing. We also all voted collectively on hiring the border guards that were there and were conducting performance reviews.

Are you dense naturally or do you just practice it. This is not about countries. And if it becomes about countries then we'll have lost all perspective thanks to jingoistic tomfoolery like yours. If you want to go join in on the pointless America bashing, go to the link in the OP and start commenting there.

 

[Spaghetti]

Admittidly he shouldn't have gotten out of his car. But, judging by his picture, the man doesn't exactly look like he's going to pose a threat. Maybe the American policy of "Shock and Awe" spreads to more than just the Middle East?

Actually let me tell you a story that my Driver's Ed teacher told the class I was in about getting pulled over. He was driving a delivery van and got pulled over for speeding. He figured that they'd probably want to check the contents of the vehicle so he got out and started removing the boxes. Not more than 10 seconds later he winds up with a gun about an inch from his head and a very pissed off police officer. Why? Because he got out of the vehicle without being told to do so. He's also only about 4'8", so even if he doesn't look threatening, police and so forth can't afford to take that risk. Again, really not trying to justify things (especially given how people on BoingBoing have apparently decided to label all Americans as facist shits in the comments for this story), but I am explaining that getting out of a car at a police stop, border station, etc. without being prompted to do so is an immediate warning flag to officers.

Also this story is why I don't ever reach over for my registration until the officer gets there. I have my license out but I'm not going to make things difficult because reaching towards the glovebox could mean anything (gun, for instance). It's not a power abuse thing, it's just them being protective of themselves. Course, if I got pepper sprayed for reaching for my glovebox, then yeah that's different.

Actually, I agree with you. It is understandable that an officer might freak out if someone gets out of the car. If they're in the car, you know where they are and they don't exactly have enough space to make sudden movments. So it's understandable that the officers would go for their guns when the author left the car, but does it justify the beating? We won't know of course because the article is clearly biased in favour of the author

 

[A Raging Emo]

What happened? The page isn't loading for me...

 

[Icecoldcynic]

Really, how often do you hear about people getting beaten down crossing into the US from Canada? And you're going to question what kind of "operation" we have going on? Don't be absurd. Thousands of people cross every day unharmed, no reason to stir up a commotion over border policy and all that for the sake of a discussion that will just turn into a bunch of people bashing the US for being some sort of "police state".

I'm pretty sure he was just joking around when he questioned what kind of operation you were running.

OT: The article seems pretty biased, but in any case I feel bad for the guy, i'd hate to be in his shoes.

 

[funguy2121]

It's not as scary as Extraordinary Rendition by any means, and with an administration that is seriously concerned with changing America's image as a paranoid police state, I'm confident the tide will turn in the author's favor. Sadly, the officer involved will more than likely receive nothing more than a reprimand.

I wish I were a much wiser man; then I could spearhead the charge to vastly overhaul a judicial system and police force that are in dire need of it.