[Noisebridge-discuss] Mitch Altman not welcome in Canada

[Jake]

Mitch!  I have had some of the same experiences.  my first interaction 
with the cops was when I had hooked up a garage door opener to a microwave 
oven transformer, and i used the output of the transformer to light off 
fireworks from a safe distance.  The cops came to the house and asked if 
my parents were home.  I lied and said no, and they left.

I have also been denied entry to canada a few times.  I have learned a lot 
about the process.  The last time I went was specifically to find out Why 
i wasn't allowed and what i should do about it, but it was still really 
creepy.  When i got to the agent, the first thing he told me was that I 
was not allowed to look at, wave to, or signal to in any way, the person 
who I had come there with, who could have been my life partner for all 
they knew.  You belong to us now.

The agent went over things on my record, including a conviction from 1996 
which was expunged.  I mentioned that I thought that had been expunged (a 
fact I had not mentioned the last time I was refused entry to canada, when 
that was the only reason) and he went on to the other items.

He was not allowed to tell me certain things but i was able to guess and 
he nodded confirmation.  I had told him that I was totally fine with being 
refused entry but I just wanted to get information so i could clear things 
up.  The other items were things I knew about, relating to false arrests 
which I was suing the police over, and those things have now been expunged 
too. ("simulated weapons of mass destruction" and "throwing missiles")

A few minutes into this, he touches his earphone and says "i just heard 
back from the research department and they say your 1996 conviction was in 
fact expunged, so it is no longer an issue."  Which was surprising to me 
that they would honor an expungement, but apparently they did.

Since then I have been expunged on the other charges too, and i have fancy 
paperwork (even something stamped) from those other states, which should 
be enough next time i go to canada.  I was also told that one can go to 
any State Police department and get a certificate of clean record, or 
something like that, which is fancy stamped paper that says you have 
nothing that isn't expunged on your record, and they take that at the 
border.  It's annoying to have to go through this, but you can hardly 
blame Canada considering how bad some americans are.  Unfortunately they 
don't seem to understand that the Cool americans are the ones with the 
arrest records!!!

As for the kits for sale there, that's a tough one.  I would recommend 
having a letter from an important person or agency in Canada stating to 
the border guards that you are invited and that the kits are part of a 
class which has already been paid for, or something like that.. but 
ultimately the canadian border is an unpredictable one.

looking forward to the day Borders are a thing of the past.  (the 
bookstore too)

-jake

Martin wrote:
But you were 13 man!  Even Canada recognizes that any crime committed
before the age of Consent (16 in rural canada) is not a crime that can
follow you.  Much less for your whole life.

Sir, those wonderful Canadian Customs agents ... Done you wrong(tm).

-M

On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 10:55 PM, Gavin Knight <gnnrok at gmail.com> 
wrote:
> haha, i love that you were in trouble for doing basically the same thing 
> as a tvbgone, when you were 13.
>