The arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates is an example of poor police work, to be charitable, and the vestiges of racial relationships between black and white men. The police officer, after having been presented with two valid identification cards demonstrating who Gates was and where he lived, should have simply moved on. He didn't. According to the first-person account I read on The Root, the officer didn't do that, ignored reasonable requests by Gates, and was joined by numerous police officers for backup. Gates, likely tired after a long flight from China only to be greeted by a front door that was disabled in what may have been an attempted break-in, was likely offended that the officer didn't immediately bring the matter to a close. As a black man, I've been there and can easily believe that the officer thought Gates was insufficiently deferential and was looking to knock the professor down a peg or two.
Gates' commentary during the incident didn't help and I'm willing to bet that he may, at some point, regret some of what he said. But the reality is: once the officer confirmed Gates' identification and address, then the officer should have ended the situation. Ultimately, Gates got arrested because he hurt Sgt. Crowley's feelings. That won't hold up in any court of law. And prosecutors declined to prosecute because they knew the arrest was complete garbage.
I think it's folly to ignore the history of race in the interaction between some white men and some black men. From calling grown men "boy" to the well-documented cases of race-based violence, upstanding black men are not willing to accept the behavior exhibited by that police officer. For every Henry Louis Gates, with resources, notoriety, and connections, there are countless others like him who have to live in anonymity with the reality of racism and racial profiling. We don't need hypersensitive cops who didn't like the fact that a black man stood up and required respect and professionalism. Professionalism should have prevailed. Now, the Cambridge police force will pay in the form of a damaged reputation and, perhaps, even monetarily too. All because one officer got mad because his feelings were hurt.
Now, President Obama is turning the White House into the hottest Happy Hour spot in D.C. Thursday. I live about a mile from the White House. Maybe I'll take a six-pack of cold Sam Adams and see if they'll let me in!
Michael K. Fauntroy is an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University and author of Republicans and the Black Vote. He blogs at: MichaelFauntroy.com.
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Does anyone here know whether he was or wasn't in uniform?
If not, that would explain Professor Gates insistence that Crowley identify himself and refusal to step outside, initially.
It looked like an ocean of police had gathered on my front porch. There were probably half a dozen police officers at this point. The mistake I made was I stepped onto the front porch and asked one of his colleagues for his name and badge number. And when I did, the same officer said, ‘Thank you for accommodating our request. You are under arrest.
Michael, you need to put on your glasses. He said Crowley turned back to the porch and left. Gates then steps on on the porch to ask "one of his colleagues" for the officers name and badge number. Gates also says very clearly that he was trying to read Crowleys mind about what he must be thinking while also admitting he knew he "was in danger" from other thoughts in his own head. Crowley did nothing wrong and Gates own statements do not say he did except raising his voice and saying something Gate was offended by when Crowley first spoke to him. everything else... his own words say were made up in the mind of Henry gates and at no time does he say Crowley did anything racist or unlawful.
Entering the house w/o permission;
Refusing too provide identification;
Falsifying a Police Report; and
Arresting the homes legal occupant with no just cause;
"at no time does he say Crowley did anything racist or unlawful."
He'll say it in court, if he decides to do so. (I hope he does).
A Police with an attitude.
What else did Gates lie about?
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/education/20143900/detail.html
Prof. Gates has stated in earlier interview that officer Crowley demanded two photo ids and when he went to his kitchen area to get them, Sgt Crowley opened his front door and followed him without permission. Gates was incensed and felt his rights were violated; he reached for his cell phone to alert a third-party about the behavior of officer Crowley. Based on what Gates was saying to the person on the other end, Sgt. Crowley felt disrespected and decided to arrest him by luring him outside to his porch.
So we know Gates lied. I wonder what else he lied about?
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/education/20143900/detail.html
Does not a criminal offence make.
Why do continue to misrepresent the character of the professors behavior?
Whose axe are you trying to grind?
Hopefully, this WILL go to court - although (unfortunately), I doubt it will happen.
Not according the Massachussets Criminal Code and the crime Gates was charged with wasn't Distrubing the Peace.
"Now what makes you think that if you are in your home making loud noises at 2am that the police can't put a stop to it?"
Professor Gates home had been invaded by Officer Crowley, who entered with the home without permission and no search warrant.
Crowely refused to identify himself and enticed Gates outside, where he could slap a bogus sharge of Disorderly Conduct on him, as he had done so many times before to others that questioned his authority, an authority that he evidently ABUSES habitually.
"It is lawful and you have no right to keep your neighbors awake at 2 am. You certainly have no right to chase the police down and insult them."
You're delusioning - none of that happened.
Or a cop. IAC, he/she posseses military mentality and subscribes to implementing a police state.
You're giving Gates slack due to be tired and upset about his door being jimmied. But you make no such assumptions on behalf of Sgt. Crowley. There are reasons why a world reknowned scholar returning from a trip to China might be out of sorts, but not a police officer who spent a day dealing with who-knows-what and has now shown up at the scene of a disturbance only to be berated.
I'm not excusing the Sgt.'s actions. I'm still not sure exactly what the Sgt. did or what Gates did. Accounts vary. i just think if you are going to make so many allowances for Gates, why not for Crowley? Cultural history matters, but it is not the only thing that matters. We're all adults who still need to conduct ourselves with a modicum of respect and decorum.
Only one went to jail, while the other committed the crime.
Arresting Gates for a non-crime while he was on his own property is just plain inexcusable!
If you are siding with Gates you will maintain that he was in his home, no law was broken and Crowley is probably lying about the entire thing. This seems very unlikely to any reasonable person keeping an honost and open mind. This wasn't a call where the officer and the professor would have been on opposite sides. No one had called the police on Professor Gates for disturbing the peace and Crowley was there to confront him about his behavior. In this case, Officer Crowley and Professor Gates should have been on the same side.
So what precipitated the hostilities? If you don't beleive that Professor Gates was hostile and un-cooperative as Officer Crowley asserts, then you have to beleive some imaginative (and racially paranoid) scenario where after discovering there is no burglary, and establishing Gates identity, Officer Crowley decides to demonstrate racist and vindictive behavior outside of what he has displayed throughout his career.
Gates instigated, Crowley responded. Arrest was not supported in law, story given by officer is likely to be true.
A country with no Agrarian Reform Laws:
A country with Capital Punishment;
A country with no Universal Health Care option;
A country that refused to sign the Kyoto Climate Change Protocols;
A country that refused to ratify the Cartagena Protocols on Biodiversity;
A country that refused to sign the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention of the International labor Organization;
A country in which corporate interests maniplate public policy and the electoral process;
A country whose President is not elected by direct popular vote;
A country that spies on it's citizens and holds prisoners indefinately with no due process.
Support the Blue - Taze Yourself.
This was a clear case of entrapment and false, unjustifiable arrest.
I liken it to the white ladies who would tense up when young black men would pass by. They may or may not have ever been assaulted by young black men but the emotional response has been transferred to them through anecdotal evidence. Television plays a big part in this narrative. It is evident in the attitudes of immigrants who have developed bigoted attitudes by proxy.
I closely watched the reactions of people of color and people who are Caucasian in regard to this story and its pretty obvious who have had issues with police authority and who have no issues with them. That emotional divide crosses race, political party and sex.
falsified his police report. Again Officer Crowley falsified his police report and he should be disciplined for it. (Fired)
Telling on the black cop to justify the action of a white cop, as if the say, "He did too and he was black" Wah wah wah wrong is wrong and your argument is desperate.
Office Crowley is a less than stellar cop, and Professor Gates, even if he said words that would make a sailor blush, was in his home and he violated no- N O Mass law.
Officer Crowley is solely responsible for this mess.
Gates is solely responsible for the escalation of this incident by being uncooperative, combative and abusive to an officer who was simply checking on the security of his home. "I'll speak with your momma, outside?" That says a lot right there.
A lot of the people on here are black or they are white people from rural areas who have only passing relations with black people if at all. So they sit up in their lovely homes in their crime free sub-urbs and lament the suffering of black people. They're experts at both explaining racial injustice in the inner city and making sure not to live in or send their children to school in the inner city.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/07/29/wsjnbc-poll-whos-at-fault-in-gates-arrest/
You could see a case where it started from a traffic stop, but Crowley was there to assist the homeowner not issue a citation or in any way adversely affect Professor Gates.
Crowley abused his power.
Officer Crowley falsified a police report and deserves disciplinary action. And Officer Crowley was the professional at the scene.
Officer Crowley, meanwhile, falsified a police report. Fact. And Officer Crowley was the professional at the scene. He made up events to justify his actions. Read the report. "two black men with back packs."
Officer Crowley deserves disciplinary action. And he owes Pofessor Gates an apology.
The Cambrigde Police department should be sued. To keep their minds and feelings of being "disgraced" with President Obama back on to the matter at hand. A seasoned veteran, exemplinary, Cambridge police officer made up a report to justify his action. They should feel "embarrassed".