It's not just Cory Doctrow vouching for him, but also Charlie Stross and Neil Gaiman. Is it possible that there is more to the story that exonerates the guards? Of course it's possible, but given the US border crossing guards, it's not bloody likely. Even if he did something tremendously ill-advised, which doesn't sound like the case here, that does not justify a brutal beating and an assault charge, nor does it justify attempting to get Watts to waive his Miranda rights. Hell, we can even take the extreme case that Watts did somehow commit a felony (no evidence of this); the guards still should have respected his rights and his human dignity.
It doesn't have to be. It just has to mean it's more likely that he was telling the truth than that the border guards were, and the border patrol doesn't exactly have an upstanding reputation.
