Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
‪@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social‬

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Border Patrol says he was at the red mark, 65 feet south of the border, when he "made an abrupt starboard turn and struck the port bow of the Coast Guard small-boat," causing him to capsize.

He says that's ridiculous, he was in Canadian waters and was going to shore to talk when they hit him.
Map of the region. There's a red location arrow right underneath the border.
ALT

‪ℳatt‬
‪@matttomic.bsky.social‬
· 4h
A Quebec fisherman who was fishing 15 kilometers north of the US border was essentially kidnapped by US Border Patrol, who capsized his boat and dragged him to an American prison cell.

In any normal time this'd be quite the international incident, y'know?

www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...
Lallemand said he borrowed his friend’s boat and was fishing near Venise-en-Québec, which is roughly 15 kilometres north of the U.S. border at the northern tip of Lake Champlain. He says he has been fishing for decades and is adamant that he was in Canadian waters when the Coast Guard showed up and told him to turn off his engine, to which he complied.

The three officers told him he was in U.S. territory.

“I said, ‘No, I’m very sorry, I’m in Canada.’ And I said I’m polite enough to talk to you guys but you cannot arrest me. ‘You can’t come across the border and pick me up’ but they did,” he recalled.

Lallemand started his engine and said he wanted to talk with the officers by the shore, but the Coast Guard followed and tried to push him into the U.S., which is what caused him to go overboard.

“They’re tying my boat to their boat. They’re not even taking care of me. The third time I went down, coming out with water in my mouth, spitting it out, I said throw me a buoy,” he said.

Once on their vessel, he said he was aggressively put in handcuffs. “I never saw somebody so angry,” he said.

He was then handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, who fingerprinted him, put him in a jail cell with his clothes soaking wet, and gave him a “dirty” blanket.
ALT
July 24, 2025 at 3:58 PM

ℳatt
‪@matttomic.bsky.social‬

Follow
A Quebec fisherman who was fishing 15 kilometers north of the US border was essentially kidnapped by US Border Patrol, who capsized his boat and dragged him to an American prison cell.

In any normal time this'd be quite the international incident, y'know?

https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/quebec-man-warning-canadian-boaters-after-he-was-detained-by-us-coast-guard-put-in-jail-cell/
Lallemand said he borrowed his friend’s boat and was fishing near Venise-en-Québec, which is roughly 15 kilometres north of the U.S. border at the northern tip of Lake Champlain. He says he has been fishing for decades and is adamant that he was in Canadian waters when the Coast Guard showed up and told him to turn off his engine, to which he complied.

The three officers told him he was in U.S. territory.

“I said, ‘No, I’m very sorry, I’m in Canada.’ And I said I’m polite enough to talk to you guys but you cannot arrest me. ‘You can’t come across the border and pick me up’ but they did,” he recalled.

Lallemand started his engine and said he wanted to talk with the officers by the shore, but the Coast Guard followed and tried to push him into the U.S., which is what caused him to go overboard.

“They’re tying my boat to their boat. They’re not even taking care of me. The third time I went down, coming out with water in my mouth, spitting it out, I said throw me a buoy,” he said.

Once on their vessel, he said he was aggressively put in handcuffs. “I never saw somebody so angry,” he said.

He was then handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, who fingerprinted him, put him in a jail cell with his clothes soaking wet, and gave him a “dirty” blanket.
ALT
July 24, 2025 at 11:47 AM