Monday 14 December 2009

Strange

Re the Dr Peter Watts that I mentioned in my previous post.

Letting the  the star.com:

http://tinyurl.com/yceusja


take up the story:


For author Peter Watts, life can be stranger than science fiction.


Watts – who has written six books in the genre – was on his way back to Toronto Tuesday after helping a friend move to the U.S. Before he crossed the border into Sarnia, American customs officers pulled him over.

When they began rifling through his car, he got out to ask what was going on. They ordered him back into the car; he asked again.

What happened next has become the talk of the blogosphere.

Watts, too, has waded in, posting on the Internet that he was assaulted, punched in the face, pepper-sprayed and thrown in jail for the night, only to find himself facing charges of assaulting a customs officer.

Port Huron police told the local newspaper Watts was angry when he got out of the car and when he refused to get back in, customs officers tried to cuff him and he was "aggressive." In the melee, police said, Watts "choked" an officer.

Ronald Smith, chief customs and border protection officer at Blue Water Bridge, told the Star Watts "became non-compliant ... and a physical altercation" ensued.

"As a result of that, he was detained and turned over to local authorities," said Smith.

Watts denies any wrongdoing.

"I can state categorically that I did not choke anybody. I did not use profanity and did not raise my voice. I did not initiate any physical contact," said Watts, who has a PhD in zoology. "All I basically did was use words to ask what was going on."

This seems odd behaviour for a Marine Biologist.

The Huffington Post also has the story.


http://tinyurl.com/yb5clww

I have heard bad things about border security in the US before and the comments seem to suggest that this is nothing unusual. However it is two civillians against law enforcement and unless there is video, he'll be very lucky to get off with this.

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