On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres. Then they let him into the United States.of course if despres' name was "hamid" or "hussein" i'm sure the border guards would have had no problem finding a way to detain him, grounds or no. it's funny how in this day and age you can still waltz over the border with a bloody chain saw in your hand, provided you're a gringo.
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Anthony said Despres was questioned for two hours before he was released. During that time, he said, customs agents employed "every conceivable method" to check for warrants or see if Despres had broken any laws in trying to re-enter the country.
"Nobody asked us to detain him," Anthony said. "Being bizarre is not a reason to keep somebody out of this country or lock them up. … We are governed by laws and regulations, and he did not violate any regulations."
Anthony conceded it "sounds stupid" that a man wielding what appeared to be a bloody chain saw could not be detained. But he added: "Our people don't have a crime lab up there. They can't look at a chain saw and decide if it's blood or rust or red paint."
and, for the record, i'm not saying that they should have declared despres an unlawful combatant or anything. but i question whether there really were no grounds to hold him--the article notes that he failed to show up for a sentencing hearing the day he crossed the border. i wonder if the u.s. border authorities called anyone on the canadian side of the border when they employed "every conceivable method" to hold him.
(via mustang bobby)
