I'm not just appalled, I'm scared. Because this could be me. Not "could have been"; could be. This kind of thing happens all the time. 

Peter's a friend of mine. I've known him for years, workshopped stories with him, seen how he conducts himself during good times and bad.  He's a caring soul with an intelligent, questioning mind.  He's non-violent.  He's also honest to a fault, even when it doesn't look good on him.  If he says that this is how he came to be beaten, handcuffed, kept in a cold cell overnight and then turned out into a below-freezing winter storm without his coat, I believe him.

Here's the Boing-Boing post about the incident.

Here's Peter's post about it.

Here's BoingBoing's information on where/how to donate if you'd like to help;

Peter's website, rifters.com, has a link to a PayPal account, whimsically named the Niblet Memorial Kibble Fund. He set it up years ago for fans of the Hugo-nominated novel Blindsight and his Rifters books, to cover veterinary bills for the cats he habitually rescues from the mean streets of Toronto. Peter has made it clear that he
doesn't want to use the veterinary money to cover his lawsuit. But until we can figure out a more graceful conduit for the legal fund, that's the best place to send donations for now. Just let Peter know that the donation's for his legal defense, and that's where it will go.

Here's the link to the backlist page on Peter's website, rifters.com, or you can just send a PayPal donation to donate@rifters.com.

The link to the Niblet Memorial Kibble Fund is in the middle ofthe page. The page also links to Creative Commons editions of all his published work, which he's made available free. Peter would approve, we think, if you downloaded one or two or all of them. Whether you make a donation to the legal fund or not.