The Times Herald has an article posted that sheds more light on the story concerning Peter Watts, the Canadian science fiction writer that was supposedly pepper-sprayed, beaten, and charged with assaulting a federal agent as he was driving back into Canada from Michigan. The article states that the incident happened when Watts was trying to enter the U.S. from Canada, not when he was going back home to Canada as it was stated on Boing Boing.
From the Times Herald article:
Port Huron police Capt. Jim Jones would not provide the Times Herald with a copy of a police report about the incident Friday. He did read the police report to a reporter.
Jones said Watts was crossing into Michigan from Point Edward when he was selected at random for a secondary Customs inspection. Watts exited his vehicle “angrily” and border officers began checking the black sport utility vehicle he was driving, Jones said.
Border officers ordered Watts back into the vehicle, and when he refused, officers attempted to handcuff him, Jones said. At that point, Watts began to resist and pull away from the officers “and became aggressive toward officers,” Jones said. Jones said a border officer used pepper spray to subdue Watts. Jones said Watts “choked” an officer during the struggle.
This makes a bit more sense I guess. I originally didn’t understand why U.S. border agents would want to search a Canadian’s car as he or she was returning to Canada. That’s usually not the way it works.
I generally don’t care too much for cops. With that said, I’m not stupid enough to not do what they say when I’m pulled over. I don’t mouth off and I don’t ignore what they tell me to do. When they tell me to stay in the vehicle, I stay in the vehicle. When they tell me to get out of the vehicle, I get out of the vehicle. My goal when dealing with a member of law enforcement is to make my time spent in their presence be as short as humanly possible. The longer you spend with a member of law enforcement, the greater the chance something bad will happen to you.
