A Kitchener woman has been arrested in New York after she allegedly slapped a U.S. border guard in the face.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 40-year-old Tianna Natasha McPherson took a taxi to the Rainbow Bridge on September 2, saying she wanted to visit Niagara Falls State Park on the U.S. side of the border.
McPherson was referred for a secondary inspection at the border due to “derogatory information related to [her] previous attempted crossings in to the United States.”
She was denied entrance and advised she would have to return to Canada.
That’s when McPherson became “verbally combative and uncooperative, indicating she did not want to go back to Canada, and stating that she was an American citizen.”
She did not have any documentation to back up her claims.
McPherson allegedly asked to go before an American judge, grabbed her bags, and began to leave.
A border guard blocked the exit and told her she couldn't leave and asked her to sit down.
McPherson allegedly replied: “What if I punch you in the face?”
After being asked again to sit down, she stated that she wanted to be charged criminally.
That’s when she allegedly slapped the officer on the left side of her face.
McPherson was then taken into custody and put into a holding cell.
She’s been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer of the United States.
If convicted, she could spend up to eight years in prison and fined $250,000.
McPherson remains in custody and her next court appearance is on September 13.
