Melville House Books

Peter Watts

At Boing Boing, Corey Doctorow tells the disturbing story of “My friend, the wonderful sf writer Peter Watts” who “was beaten without provocation and arrested by US border guards” last week and now faces a serious felony rap for “assaulting a federal officer.”

Another sf writer, David Nickle, writes in to Doctorow with the details:

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.

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.

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.