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Sci-fi author and Crysis 2 writer Peter Watts beaten, arrested at US border
Sol Invictus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey guys. Some of you might've already read about this on BoingBoing, and I've posted it up on my own site at Hellforge, but I just thought I'd mobilize more support for this.
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Peter Watts, a Canadian citizen, was subject to a beating and arrest by U.S. border guards on Tuesday when he was detained by the aforementioned authorities at the U.S.-Canada border. On top of the beating and pepper spraying that he received, he was additionally charged with “assaulting a federal officer”, a felony rap that carries a mandatory 2 year sentence in a federal prison, if convicted.
Defending against this charge will cost him more money than he can afford, and losing it may cost him his entire life. That this circumstance is fucked up would be putting it lightly.
Peter Watts, who has previously worked on Homeworld 2, is currently serving as a writer and art consultant on Crysis 2 and is the author of the Hugo-award-nominated science fiction novel, Blindsight.
Science fiction writer David Nickle wrote on BoingBoing:
To anyone who wants to take the side of the border guards on this, just ask yourself if someone who runs the “Niblet Memorial Kibble Fund” for stray cats is capable of assaulting a group of armed guards.
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Peter Watts, a Canadian citizen, was subject to a beating and arrest by U.S. border guards on Tuesday when he was detained by the aforementioned authorities at the U.S.-Canada border. On top of the beating and pepper spraying that he received, he was additionally charged with “assaulting a federal officer”, a felony rap that carries a mandatory 2 year sentence in a federal prison, if convicted.
Defending against this charge will cost him more money than he can afford, and losing it may cost him his entire life. That this circumstance is fucked up would be putting it lightly.
Peter Watts, who has previously worked on Homeworld 2, is currently serving as a writer and art consultant on Crysis 2 and is the author of the Hugo-award-nominated science fiction novel, Blindsight.
Science fiction writer David Nickle wrote on BoingBoing:
Hugo-award-nominated science fiction author Dr. Peter Watts is in serious legal trouble after he was beaten, pepper-sprayed and imprisoned by American border guards at a Canada U.S. border crossing December 8. This is a call to friends, fans and colleagues to help.
Peter, a Canadian citizen, was on his way back to Canada after helping a friend move house to Nebraska over the weekend. He was stopped at the border crossing at Port Huron, Michigan by U.S. border police for a search of his rental vehicle. When Peter got out of the car and questioned the nature of the search, the gang of 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. On Wednesday, he posted bond and walked across the border to Canada in shirtsleeves (he was released by Port Huron officials with his car and possessions locked in impound, into a winter storm that evening). He's home safe. For now. But he has to go back to Michigan to face the charge brought against him.
The charge is spurious. But it's also very serious. It could mean two years in prison in the United States, and a ban on travel in that country for the rest of Peter's life. Peter is mounting a vigorous defense, but it's going to be expensive - he's effectively going up against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and he needs the best legal help that he can get.
He's got that help, courtesy of one of the top criminal lawyers in the State of Michigan. We, Peter's friends and colleagues here in Canada, want to make sure he gets the help he needs financially to come out of this nightmare whole.
The need for that help is real. While Peter is a critically successful science fiction writer, he is by no means a best-selling author. Without help, the weight of his legal fees could literally put him on the street by spring.
We can't let that happen. So there's going to be fundraising.
We're going to think of something suitable in the New Year - but immediately, anyone who wants to help can do so easily. Peter's website, rifters.com, has a link to a PayPal account, whimsically named the Niblet Memorial Kibble Fund. He set it up years ago for fans of the Hugo-nominated novel Blindsight and his Rifters books, to cover veterinary bills for the cats he habitually rescues from the mean streets of Toronto. Peter has made it clear that he doesn't want to use the veterinary money to cover his lawsuit. But until we can figure out a more graceful conduit for the legal fund, that's the best place to send donations for now. Just let Peter know that the donation's for his legal defense, and that's where it will go.
Here's the link to the backlist page on Peter's website, rifters.com, or you can just send a PayPal donation to donate@rifters.com.
The link to the Niblet Memorial Kibble Fund is in the middle of the page. The page also links to Creative Commons editions of all his published work, which he's made available free. Peter would approve, we think, if you downloaded one or two or all of them. Whether you make a donation to the legal fund or not.
To anyone who wants to take the side of the border guards on this, just ask yourself if someone who runs the “Niblet Memorial Kibble Fund” for stray cats is capable of assaulting a group of armed guards.
Sol Invictus on
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So true. It's such a screwed up system and if it happened to anyone else (which I'm sure it has), no one would have ever known about it.
Unbiased reporting +1
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Anyone is capable on anything, and men of better moral status have done worse. Either way, defending himself shouldn't bankrupt him, so I agree on that point.
Also it doesn't say in what tone of voice he "questioned" the search.
Or maybe I'm grasping at straws and this is clearly bullshit. Either way this has "missing details" and "fishy" written all over it.
edit: keeping a small video camera in my glove box or mounted on my dashboard like those police chase shows, it's seeming like a better idea all the time.
There's a difference between "well I trust cops so I'm going to assume this was the author's fault" and "I don't have enough information so I'm not leaning either way".
Also I'm guessing this'll be moved to D&D
I feel bad for the guy, and I hope he gets it cleared up sooner than later...but, take this as a lesson. Let them search your car and then go about your business.
Just because you like what the guy writes doesn't mean he didn't deserve what he got.
Edit: Also, you don't get to "defend yourself" from the police unless you are damn sure you can win and escape to a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US. The police have the right to the legal use of force to ensure compliance with the law. That is their whole purpose.
You got that they "clearly" like to abuse power from two completely bias sources? Ooooookay.
You really need to get off your bias. I don't care if he was Mother Theresa, if he mouthed off the police (I'm not positive he has, sources on this are really varied), he is in the wrong.
Unbiased reporting +2
EDIT:
And, yes, it's entirely possible that the cops in this case are jackbooted thugs. However, that is far from an established fact. The BoingBoing comments are fuckin' hilarious, though.
"What? This happened? I'm leaving the US. I mean it this time!"
"I'm never going to Canada again!"
"How dare you intimate that the attack might have been provoked! You must be one of those right-wing thugs yourself!"
"I like the author; therefore, this must have happened exactly as he said it did."
"I [live / have friends / once dated a girl] in the area, and this doesn't happen to me, so the author's probably lying."
etc., etc., etc.
Srsly amusing stuff.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Tofu wrote: Here be Littleboots, destroyer of threads and master of drunkposting.
I agree 100%. They really could be jack-booted thugs that just beat up an innocent guy...or he could have mouthed off to the border guards and paid a price for it. I'm pretty sure verbally assaulting a border guard is still considered assault of a federal officer.
In any case, there is no way for any of us to tell what the fuck really happened from a bunch of bias reports from his friends...who are obviously going to take his side on the whole thing.
Depends what you say.
I don't think mouthing off deserves a beating but if they asked him to get back into his vehicle and he refused I could see things escalating pretty fast from there.
Tofu wrote: Here be Littleboots, destroyer of threads and master of drunkposting.
Agreed. Again, the problem here is that it's purely speculation. Our only source of information is from two completely biased sources who are just assuming they were jack booted thugs. If nothing else, it doesn't add a serious amount of credibility to the whole thing, even if they are correct in their assessment.
Maybe we should wait for the whole story before passing judgment on anyone involved right now
I'm tempted to side with the science-fiction author, but at the same time, this ain't exactly professional journalism
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Other boarder? What other boarder? Did he have a snowboard?
Did Shaun White pick a fight with some Canadian border guards and like, do a crazy 1080 Stale Fish over the border or something
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Negatory. If he's mouthing off to police, he's mouthing off to police. I can mouth off to a police officer all I want, it just means he's far less likely to let me off with a warning. Likewise, if you are crossing a border and you are nice to the border patrol dude, he will likely give you a smile and a cursory glance around your vehicle before sending you on your way. Mouthing off is liable to get you a complete search down to the spare tire. But pepper spray and a beating? No amount of mouthing off justifies that.
Having said all that, we still don't know what happened. Until we see some evidence (or some reports from the other side so we can piece something together), this is just a circle jerk.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
He made a spelling mistake.
This isn't unheard of on an internet forum.
I'm sorry
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
... But I was thinking marines in a ship-to-ship scenario, not Shaun White.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
I want to hear about the people of better moral status who have done worse. I have a feeling that there's an awesome story about Mister Rogers biting a person somewhere in there, or at least something equally interesting.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Fuckin' a, man
Fuckin' a
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Not quite the same, but taking it in the same direction as the original argument, the Nazis (hah!) certainly ran a bunch of charities.
I mean, they were probably EEVIL charities, but they were certainly charities.
And we all know how much money the upper crust, capitalist running-dog lackeys donate to worthy causes just for the tax write-offs, and then go back to oppressing the man and running sweatshops and stuff.
So, just because you give a home to some orphans doesn't mean that you didn't go out a murder a million people.
And, once again, it's entirely possible that this is a case of rank jackbooted thuggery. - in which case, all legal methods of "retribution" should be employed. However, not nearly enough information has been released to proceed on that assumption (which, it seems, many people treat less as an assumption and more as a bred-in-the-bone certainty).
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
I mean unless the Cops seem like the nicest dudes in the world and you ask in a real nice way...Even then its not a good idea, but considering what happened I doubt they were giving that vibe.
Not that he deserved anything more than possibly being restrained....
Well right off the top of my head Ted Bundy was a volunteer for a local suicide hotline.
I'm sure there are much better examples.
They said better moral status
I assumed we were running with "people do did nice things but were actually child rapists" or something.
Also I heartily recommend the hilarious comments section of Sol's site
Gandhi was secretly plotting to resurrect the dark Lord Garthanor.
Actually Gandhi's take on the holocaust is a goldmine IIRC, although technically counts as "retarded" rather than "evil".
It's like Debate and Discourse on crack!
I'm just kidding, not trying to make an actual point out of these :P
Dear god, how can people so retarded manage to work their computer well enough to get online and vomit this shit all over the internet? It's a goddamned miracle if you ask me.
Mouthing off police warrants a beating? Man, what a fucked up world we live in.
If he's guilty, then he will get what he deserves. If not then they will get what they deserve. Either way, I am going to not pass judgment of the officers because cops are accused of this all the time and all we are doing is defending ourselves or some other innocent civilian.