What happened to Peter Watts, the critically-acclaimed Canadian author of Blindsight, last Tuesday at the border?”
Canadian science fiction writer Peter Watts got into a scuffle with the authorities at the US-Canadian border earlier this week. The author was apparently beaten and pepper sprayed by some border guards who seem to have gone too far. According to Io9.com, Watts was on the way back through the Michigan border after helping a pal move into his new place in Nebraska. When guards asked to search his car, Watts stepped out to see what they were doing, and they turned on him with pepper spray, handcuffed him and arrested him. Folks who were in the car with Watts say he only questioned the guards, but didn’t lay a hand on them. Regardless, the writer has been charged with felony assault against an officer. He was released the next day, but Watts is still facing up to two years in jail for the assault charges — meaning he may never be able to cross the border again.
I don’t see this yet on DKos, so thought I’d be the first. Canadian science fiction writer Dr. Peter Watts, author of Starfish, Maelstrom, and Blindsight, was stopped at the border Tuesday for no apparent reason, beaten, pepper sprayed, and arrested. * makyo’s diary :: :: * Apparently it happened while he was on his way home, but before he got back into Canada. His car was searched by U.S. border police in Port Huron, Michigan. What exactly happened next is unclear, but it appears that he simply asked about the reason for the search. According to an account by fellow SF writer Peter Nickle: 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. This is just breaking today, so there’s not a lot of major-media coverage yet. The best starting point is a post from this morning by fellow SF writer Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing. Watts himself has also now briefly p
Peter Watts, the critically-acclaimed Canadian author of Blindsight and other dystopian novels, entered a dystopia of his own on Tuesday after border guards beat and pepper sprayed him at the US-Canadian border. Now you can help with his legal defense. Over at BoingBoing, Cory Doctorow has a full account of what happened. Watts was returning to Canada via the Michigan border after helping a friend move house in Nebraska. After border guards asked to search his car, Watts got out of the vehicle and questioned what they were doing – and immediately was pepper sprayed, handcuffed, and placed under arrest. Witnesses in the car with him said he did nothing more than question the guards; he did not attempt to attack them. Nevertheless, he has been charged with felony assault against a federal officer.
