Frank,

The police didn’t break in on the Professor, correct.  The Professor made the mistake of answering the door. What would have happened if the Professor had not have answered the door?

Martha says

can assure you I would never want the police to break into my home with no more evidence than what one woman thought she saw

Who said anything about breaking in? That’s not what I asked. You haven’t once given a straight answer to the scenario questions I posed, because I suspect you are afraid of sounding silly by doing so. Or maybe it is just a reading comprehension problem?

Now you are making me laugh, FT.  Your combination of arrogance, ignorance and condescension makes such a delicious potpourri that there’s never been a sit-com with a character as funny as you.  Frank Burns, Herb Tarlick, “Sue Ann” and “Newman” have nothing on you!

I’ve been exposed to a lot of political theater, especially the old “Spanish Underground Theater” from the Franco era. It was all universally atrocious—and that had NOTHING to do with the message.  It’s all like that old SNL skit “Bad Chinese Opera”.  The ONLY really talented writer of such political theater is Athol Fugard.  Of course, Fugard was doing it at great risk in apartheid South Africa.

As for international relations, your descriptions of it remind of the old Peanuts cartoons where Lucy was “teaching” Linus about things…“This is a palm tree. It gets its name from the fact that you can put your hand completely around it. When palm trees get really old, they get cut down and used to make knotty-pine family rooms….”

Only Lucy’s logic is more stable than yours!

Inherit, you are like my oldest friend, a writer now living in Mazatlan.  He isn’t Jewish and doesn’t give a shit about Israel or Zionism, so you would consider him anti-semitic, as you do the rest of the world.  Except for self-hating Jews like myself.

HE has written plays, so he considers political discourse not from the perspective of the reality-based truth, but whether or not it would ‘play’ to the population.  Since the American population is deluded by the American learned and mass media, the ‘playable truth’ differs sharply from the reality-based truth.  But sometimes he has amazing insights into the political theater of the power structure of the ruling class.

In your case, you are restricted not only by the american truth consensus and the neoliberal truth, but the zionist truth consensus as well.  You are as ignorant of world historical power relations as he is, so you are resticted to ad hominam prsonal venom with the ‘anti-semetic’ ‘holocost deniers’, etc.

but you, like him, have no compunction in stating utter absurdities that even other zionist lemmings don’t state.  You have the courage to make a fool of yourself.  Do to my frivious nature, I get a kick out it. I think that you are relatively harmeless, compared to Sepharad and nefish.

Thanks, FT.  I think you’re funny, too, when you aren’t seriously pissing me off!

Frank,

Per ITW: “Was Gates a threat?  Hard to imagine a somewhat elderly man on a cane being a threat.”

Hard for me to imagine as well.

The fact that all charges have been dropped is sufficient to say that Crowley acted in a manner not conducive to good citizen relations.

Hopefully Crowley will ascertain there is a crime scene before acting like there is a crime scene in the future.

I can assure you I would never want the police to break into my home with no more evidence than what one woman thought she saw, and then if I am offended, because what I say doesn’t matter, then haul me off to jail, book me and scatter the jail pictures all across the internet.

I do not know if Professor Gates will sue the Police Department, but he definitely has just cause for redress after the Beverly Hills Cop Crowley episode and then the Police Dept. leaking the pictured they took of him to the press to present him as a common criminal.

There is definitely something wrong with this picture.

OK, I take back what I said in the other thread about MarthaA sounding borderline delusional. She is full-on delusional.

MarthaA rsays a woman who called police to report two men possibly forcing in a door should be ‘investigated’ and possible charged? People who want to help prevent crimes by reporting suspicious activity to police are nosey and worthy of prosecution, apparently. Wow.

And yet cops responding to a 911 call and simply asking an unidentified man for ID at the site of the possible break-in call are abusing their power and harassing someone?

Oh, the irony.

I almost have trouble believing MarthA is a sincere poster and not some troll sent to make the anti-police view seem ridiculous, because she is succeeding so well at it. 

Martha, if your home was broken into and you were about to be murdered, and that same woman called and reported someone trying to force open a door, and the cops came, found the door broken in, came in and saved your life, how would you feel then? Would you want the woman caller investigated? Would you say the cops abused their authority? Or would you rather be dead?

On the other hand, if that actually happened to a black person and the cops never came, I’ll bet you and the other loons would be howling racism then too, about how the cops didn’t bother to come because the house was owned by a black woman, and how they were negligent for not listening to the 911 caller and investigating. Apparently in your world, police are always racist and whites are always to blame.

Bah, why do I even bother debating with people who’s thinking is so skewed? I’m done with this. Feel free to continue ranting and sounding comically crazy.

OK, I take back what I said in the other thread about MarthaA sounding borderline delusional. She is full-on delusional.

MarthaA says a woman who called police to report two men possibly forcing in a door should be ‘investigated’ and possible charged?

I’m guessing MarthaA is not a big supporter of Neighborhood Watch, CrimeStoppers, or people in general who try to prevent crimes and protect their fellow citizens by reporting suspicious activity to police. Racist snitches, they must be. Investigate them all. Unless they are black, that is. Then it would be racist to investigate them, I guess.

I almost have trouble believing MarthA is a sincere poster and not some troll sent to make the anti-police view seem ridiculous, because she is succeeding so well at it. 

Martha, if your home was broken into and you were about to be murdered, and that same woman called and reported someone trying to force open a door, and the cops came, found the door broken in, came in and saved your life, how would you feel then? Would you want the woman caller investigated? Would you say the cops abused their authority? Or would you rather be dead?

On the other hand, if that actually happened to a black person and the cops never came, I’ll bet you and the other loons would be howling racism then too, about how the cops didn’t bother to come because the house was owned by a black woman, and how they were negligent for not listening to the 911 caller and investigating. Apparently in your world, police are always racist and whites are always to blame.

Bah, why do I even bother debating with people who’s thinking is so skewed? I’m done with this. Feel free to continue ranting and sounding comically crazy.

I have read extradinary amounts of what I consider “racist bilge” posted by people who I feel quite certain would be deeply insulted if this were pointed out to them.

In my memory, I have never called someone an antisemite, in fact I virtually gave up participating in ANY comment sections regarding Israel/Paletinians over 5 years ago when I saw how the “dialogue” had degenerated ... but prior to that I occasionally would try to explain why something someone had posted might be taken a antisemetic ... While this does involve some nuance, it’s not beyond the ability of most high school graduates (even middle school). 

I watched during the Israeli incursion into Gaza last fall—which should have been time to rally vast sympathy for the palestinians—as forum after forum deteriorated into complaining about paranoid jews whinging about antisemitism—even when I could not find where anyone had complained about antisemitism ... far too many posters would say something like, “I know I’m going to be called an antisemite for saying this but .... ” and then sometimes they’d say something that—imho—wasn’t remotely antisemitic or they’d say something rudely blatantly antisemitic. They seemed to want, in turn, to whinge about how unfair it all was and about the Jewish pressure groups trying to suppress dialogue ... and the Jews controlling American Foreign Policy .. and the banks .. and the media ...

Like I said, I’ve been staying out of these forums for years now ... but if the pro-palestinian and anti-Israel folks could learn to drop the antisemitism, they might be able see better results from their efforts. I’m staying out of it.

No, no, Ardee, I am a very simple person.  It is political reality that is complex.  I am a Jew whose grandparents were killed in the holocaust and I strongly oppose the Zionism being hijacked by ziofascism.  Since I often exaggerate to make a point, you may have misunderstood it as anti-semitism.  Also, although I am noted for my tact, it is not oriented in the diplomatic direction.  Like Inherit’s, which is why I think he is funny.

Unlike FT, I won’t make assumptions just because “I know” based on some hare-brained theories about “society”. 

Unlike FT, I see the contradictions in the stories and the supporting evidence.

Unlike FT, I don’t claim to have some god-given ability to read minds.  FT claims this all the time, although his god is Marx. (If it was Groucho Marx I could accept that).

Is Crowley a racist?  Hard to imagine when all his Black colleagues step forward to support him, when HE is the model on anti-racism programs.

Was Gates a threat?  Hard to imagine a somewhat elderly man on a cane being a threat.

Here’s my guess.  Gates was tired and in a bad mood.  He came home from a trip and couldn’t get into his house.  That would make ME damn cranky.  Further, I’m guessing Crowley was in a bad mood and pissed off about something.  So two bad moods collided and we have a national incident.

THANKFULLY, nobody was hurt, all charges have been dropped, and it’s forcing America to re-examine some of our views of ourselves.

Inherit The Wind, July 27 at 8:08 am #

It just occurs to me that if I were in Cambridge and I saw Click and Clack, the Tappet Bros, breaking into a house, I SURELY call 9-1-1!

Tom and Ray Magliozzi may have PhDs, but they sure look like guys who’d break into a house!

Ray: “Don’t drive like my brother”.

..................

My favorite Saturday radio program! By the by, I look a bit like Tom, but I have not broken into any homes in months!
................................

Leefeller, July 26 at 11:24 am #

Ardee

So, achieving true equality may be done by speculating on what could have happened at the Gates house?
..............................

Please do not obfuscate, it ill becomes you. True equality will come about only if all good people stand up and refuse to accept exactly this sort of behavior from police. Each and every time it occurs.
\............................................

Folktruther, July 27 at 12:35 pm #

This post is about the best piece on the subject, in my opinion, thanks for it…You are a complex person FT, very.

As Martha noted, the 9/11 call is now released and there is no mention of color in it, though the presence of two suitcases is mentioned and made relevent. I heard nothing about a cab either….

Robertin Westbury,

A riot was constituted similar to the movie Beverly Hills Cop because of police action which put the long time resident professor who was tired, wore out from travel and sick, off guard to be unexpectedly treated in such a mean, vile and vulgar manner by overwhelming abuse of power and authority.

“several Cambridge and Harvard police officers assembled on the sidewalk in front of the residence.  Additionally, the caller, Ms Whalen and at least seven unidentified passers-by were looking…”  Possibly more.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates2.html

“six more police cars soon clogged the one-way street, surprising Professor Gates. By 12:51 p.m., he was in handcuffs, charged with disorderly conduct.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/us/27gates.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp;
“Even when Professor Gates produced identification in the kitchen of his home that day,”  Sergeant Crowley did not accept the professor’s identification, and he should have.

“When Professor Gates first saw Sergeant Crowley at his door, he said in an interview, he expected him to say, “How can I help you, sir?” Instead the officer told him to step onto the porch.”

“Why she [the woman] mentioned the race of the two men she saw to Sergeant Crowley but did not during the 911 call is unknown.”

“Sergeant Crowley has repeatedly refused to apologize for the arrest.”

“When the sergeant asked Professor Gates to step outside instead of greeting him cordially, and proceeded to demand identification even after Dr. Gates said he was a Harvard professor who lived in the house, Professor Gates said he had felt not only confused but also indignant. His resentment grew, he said, when he asked Sergeant Crowley to identify himself and received no response.”

*********

“In the 911 recording released Monday, caller Lucia Whalen tells police she saw two men pressing on the door of a home, but says she is unsure whether the men live there or if they were trying to break in. She said she saw two suitcases on the porch.” 

“I don’t know if they live there and they just had a hard time with their key. But I did notice they used their shoulder to try to barge in and they got in. I don’t know if they had a key or not cause I couldn’t see from my angle,” Whalen said.”

“I’m up with a gentleman, says he resides here, but was uncooperative, but keep the cars coming,” Crowley said. Identification was not enough.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090727/ap_on_re_us/us_harvard_scholar_caller

This misinformation caused a riot, degraded and abused a gentleman that should have been treated with utmost kindness.

This may all be strictly a “Beverly Hills Cop” incident, but it definitely needs to be looked into further by proper authority, so that such incidents will never happen again.

I do not think this woman was a part of a crime ring, as you say, but I do think this incident was a Right-Wing prank, because it was jumped on entirely too hard by the Right-Wing media.

“The Professor is innocent of any crime, the policeman is guilty of abusing his power and the woman who incited the policeman to riot against the Professor is guilty of inciting to riot.  This woman should be questioned to find out if she knows of other involvement in this crime before she is charged with inciting the police to riot. It is imperative that all those who put this woman up to this crime be made known, because she knew too little to be calling the police, without having been put up to it.”

Yes, the professor is innocent of any crimes. Yes, the policeman is guilty of abusing his power.  But the rest of your statement is just nutty. 

There was no riot.  The woman was not ‘put up to it’ by anyone else.  Her calling to report a possible break in is not a ‘crime.’  She ‘knew too little of it’ to call the police?  What does she need to know about what?  She saw two men breaking in a door - in a neighborhood where crime and break-ins had increased, and called the police.  Good for her.. Your obsession with this woman being part of some crime ring is silly.

do I need to add that I was being facetious about it actually being 1000 times worse?

Crowley has many black colleagues, acquaitances, etc. who swear he is not a racist.

I would argue that Gate is not a mind-reader and that for any person of color to suspect that their race might a factor in what they perceive to be their mistreatment is NOT outrageous ...

“benefit of the doubt” may or may not be proferred but it’s NOT required and it’s not ALWAYS going to mean that—having given this benefit of the doubt—what happens next reinforces some “absolution” initially granted.

How much second-guessing of themselves are people supposed to perform? Is saintly patience and “understanding” a requirement to be of color in America these days?  It’s racism far too often ... definitely often enough to make Gates’ question reasonable. 

However since it may be impossible to prove race was some “determinant” factor in Crowley’s behavior ... does not mean his behavior should be written off as some “bad day” or “misunderstanding” ...

These sorts of bad days and misunderstandings almost always have much more serious consequences for the civilians involved.

not that I can tell ... while there is a semantic distinction and possible discrepancy to be resolved, apparently for Gates to have remotely suggested that profiling was in play makes his version of events null and void ... particularly since Crowley’s (word of cop therefore unassailable and questioned only by those who hate policemen) mentions that Gates repeatedly called him a racist cop ...

As with antisemitism, the accusation that something or someone or some action might be bigoted is about 1000% more offensive that actual racism or antisemitism ... in fact it is so radioactive that one must never suggest that anyone, any statement or action even might unwitting appear bigoted—even to CLARIFY or validate one’s perceptions about “what’s going on” ...

While Crowley’s asked-not-to-be-identified collegue says that he was pleased by Obama’s call ... I haven’t seen him actually accept the invitation although no doubt his employers want both sides to play nice, shake hands and put this “regrettable” incident behind them ... I’d like to think he isn’t still seething at being labeled a racist (by many people in this aftermath) ... perhaps I missed something ... but the refusal to apologize and the police department/organizations stance(s) are not encouraging.

Gates has already agreed to Obama’s peacemaking ministrations ... As I said below, I think this is premature and something of a whitewash over an all-too-common form of police abuse of power.

I find these comments mindblowing.  Ardee briefly looked into the matter and found that a passerby informed the cops that someone was breaking into a house.  Perfectly natural.  He’s repeated it three times and yet people refuse to accept it. Is there a reluctance to accept that an inital misunderstanding led a white cop to arrest a black person in his own home for ‘disorderly conduct”?

The cops responded to the complaint, as they are suppose to do.  Gates had just come back from a ten thousand mile trip from China, he must have had ID on him, and there is no dispute that he showed it.
Gates claimed however that the white cop would not show him his identification.

The police in the US have historically identified with institutionalized racism.  According to my wife, Boston has historically had a strong racist streak, there having been anti-busing riots.  But there is a reluctance of Progressive truthers to accept that this was obviously racist incident.  Indeed, it is explicitly denied.

Inherit finds this incident so puzzling, so many unanswered questions, obscuring and dffusing the central racist pattern.  And he says explicitly “It mall WELL have had nothing to do with race.”

Ardee has presented the central aspects of the case briefly a number of times.  But there is an enormous reluctance to accept it on the part of commenters who ostensibly are Progressives.  I think this reluctance is emotional, due to the racism underneath the surface of consciousness.  And this may be the reason that Americans identify so readily with oppressive authority.  The police defending the white population, ostensibly,  from the racial undergroupings.

If this is so, than it is necessary to attack racism frontally to unite people to mobilize the population against oppressive and exploitive American power.  The US White ruling class has successfully allied across class boundaries to unite with the White population against the non-White, the non-White being super oppressed both economically and politically.  With the tacit consent of the White.

This is reinforced by the Western White population losing power to the non-White peoples historically in the world.  Whites may feel beleagured when there traditional Elitism is challenged.  Certainly Israel is a highly racist society, the Asia and African Jews complaining of discrimination by the European Jews.  Like the US.  And European countries against dark skinned Muslims.

It may not be possible to directly confront class until we first directly confront race.  This would involve a huge change in historical progressive strategy.

Has the fact that no charges were filed against Prof. Gates in this case softened anyone’s opinion that the “state” is out of control and has it out for the black folk?

IMHO, Policeman Crowley was on a POWER and AUTHORITY ego trip and made the decision that nothing else mattered except his POWER and his AUTHORITY, even though he was in the Professors home and on the Professor’s private ground.  Any obstinance from Professor Gates only enforced Crowley’s ego.  This type of ego driven policemen should not be on the police force.

This incident is “classic” to what was commonplace when I was a kid in an integrated neighborhood.

A family of color at the beach or the park would be minding their own business ... maybe there’d be a radio ... maybe there’d be a can of beer ... it wasn’t necessary but the cops would stop “to see if everything was okay” and then would start demanding identification ... if anyone moved a muscle out of place, there were would be demands to “assume the position” and if there was any lip about that, there would be threats of disorderly conduct and arrest for resisting arrest ...

it worked like clockwork, perfectly, every time ... nobody had to ACTUALLY do anything because the policeman’s word was law ...

when this is common practice, running identification turns up all sortsa stuff about past “arrests” and shit ...

hell, some folks bitch that holiday sobriety check points are a civil rights violation—that’s why they are publicized and involve ALL CARS on a given road—so there’s no “profiling” ...

Profiling is generally thought of as a racist practice because it’s been used so often against people of color—actually, it is a civil rights infringement/violation ... the dropping of any probable cause requirement as a violation of equal justice under the law.

rfidler,

“Can I assume by that analysis that you believe that the mere existence of a policeman is an abuse of state power?”

[The mere existence of a policeman in a private home, that is not the policeman’s own residence, without being called by a member of that home, without a warrant for possible cause from a judge, is an abuse of state power and to further abuse the owner of that home by arresting him is further abuse of state power.]

“How do you know/why do you assume that Crowley abused his power to arrest Gates?”

[There is no assume.  Gates owned the home. No infraction of the law was or had been committed.  The policeman should have knocked on the door, told the Professor that he had received a call that someone was trying to break into his home, but after assurances of the Professor that no crime had been committed against the Professor, the policeman should have left.  The policeman not leaving and continuing to harass Gates after he found out who he was is an abuse of state power by the policeman.  This policeman should have apologized for the intrusion and left; but, he did not, this policeman continued to harass, malign and abuse the Professor in his own home to the point of grabbing and arresting the professor for standing up for his rights in his own home.  A policeman abusing his power by arresting the owner of his home within his home without any law being broken is a tyrannical act and an egregious abuse of state power, and is, more than likely, also race related.]

“Just because he was a white cop?”

[NO.  The policeman could have been black, if there is black policemen on the police force.  This was oppression and tyranny.]

“Just because Gates was black?”

[Possibly.  Only the policeman who abused his rights knows whether or not, for certain, he was abusing the Professor because of race, but since the act was so blatant, it definitely could have been race related.]

No policeman should ever come into a home and abuse a home owner or renter on such sketchy “will of the wisp” information from an informant relative to the law being broken.  The Professor is innocent of any crime, the policeman is guilty of abusing his power and the woman who incited the policeman to riot against the Professor is guilty of inciting to riot.  This woman should be questioned to find out if she knows of other involvement in this crime before she is charged with inciting the police to riot. It is imperative that all those who put this woman up to this crime be made known, because she knew too little to be calling the police, without having been put up to it.

actually, imho, Barak’s “sin” here is that he acted too soon ... IMHO, the policeman arrested Gates punitively and, in refusing to give Gates his badge number in a way that Gates could “receive” it (he state he gave it verbally but may have conceded that Gates could not hear it as Gates was talking)—why not just write it down on your business card?—exacerbated the situation and failed to act (deliberately afaict) in the “spirit” of the requirement of officer identification .. making Gates come outside to discuss that and other matters ...

at which point, Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct (which requires criteria not met—there were 7 bystanders and 5-7 cop cars and about a dozen police by then—hardly a large crowd about to be “incited” by Gates, imho) ... he never “received” the badge number ... I’m not sure at what point (if ever) he “received” Crowley’s name.

THE ENTIRE INCIDENT: 911 CALL PLACE AT 1245 (no mention of race of individuals on porch).
CUFFED/PLACED UNDER ARREST: 1251

The short timespan of the incident will probably just reinforce whatever opinion anyone already held, but it seems there was little “discussion” or “obstruction” or “delay”

more info in today’s nyt article:
url: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/us/27gates.html?hp

Freedom of Speech is guaranteed by the 1st Amendment, not the 2nd, which is the right to keep and bear arms.

But not all speech is protected. You can’t cry “fire” in a crowded theater.  You can’t threaten to kill someone, and you cannot reveal state secrets or violate patient confidentiality.  Those are a few examples.

Gates, as I remember, was arrested for “disorderly conduct” which can be anything, such as calling people names and throwing things at them as they are walking down the street, or, in this case, arguing with a cop and (if his story’s true) getting abusive in language.

Racism exists, we just glimpsed the underbelly of it during hearings for the Supreme court justice and of course the birthers show their constant exercises of reaching for straws.  Both actions are promoted by white men, may include some white women. This must mean all white men and some white women, have the same attitude and must be against any women of different race becomeing Supreme Court Justice. This same whitey mental make up, must also not believe Obama is really president because of the berther complex. Since Cops have hassled people of race and pick on them all the time, most cops are white and all white people must feel the same way. .

So one can only conclude Gates was hassled by a raciest cop because he is a white cop and all white cops hassle black folks because they are white and upset because of the recent Supreme court justice choice by a black president.

It may be more accurate to say all police must be card carrying members of the KKK.

“How do you know/why do you assume that Crowley abused his power to arrest Gates? Just because he was a white cop? Just because Gates was black?”

I don’t want to speak for Ed, as the question was directed to him.  But that has been my position as well, and I’ll tell you why I feel that way:

Gates exhibited no weapon to pose a threat to Crowley.  He was just angry and yelling.  There is no justification for the police to arrest anyone just because they don’t like what they’re saying or the tone they’re using. 

They had no basis for arresting him.

The 2nd amendment allows for free speech.  It does not require that it be polite or in a nice tone. 

This was this guy’s private home.  If he can’t be angry or yell in his own home, then how free are we?  We’re not a police state, but if the police can arrest someone because he is agitated and upset then we’re slipping into a police state..

To use Obama’s words… when they arrested him, they acted stupidly.

My apologies…. while CNN may have a story about the caller who called 911 and the nature of the call, the article I read was actually here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090727/ap_on_re_us/us_harvard_scholar_caller

Ed Harges: “But it was only the policeman who abused his official power to compel another person to submit to arrest and incarceration. Whatever hostile, irritable things Gates may have said, they cannot compare in offensiveness to the policeman’s abuse of the power invested in him by the state.”

Can I assume by that analysis that you believe that the mere existence of a policeman is an abuse of state power? How do you know/why do you assume that Crowley abused his power to arrest Gates? Just because he was a white cop? Just because Gates was black?

Well now it’s reported that the woman (who was not white, but an ‘olive skinned’ Portugese woman) never identifed the men breaking into the home as black.  They’re backs were to her, and she only stated they might be Hispanic. 

So, there goes the idea that the police were called because it was two black men that were seen breaking in a door.

CNN says the call itself should be released to the public in the next day or two.

Strange that everyone assumed it was a white woman calling to report two black men…

Nothing in this story supports ANY contention that this incident was race based.  Obama wisely stated there wasn’t enough known of the incident for him to have an opinion on what role race played.  He then went on to state the police acted stupidly - and he was correct in that assessment as well.  Once it was confirmed Gates was the home dweller, he should have just left.  Ignored the rage and yelling. 

That the police arrested this guy because they didn’t like his anger or tone is them acting stupidly… 

Thus far, Obama was totally correct in all his assesments.

It just occurs to me that if I were in Cambridge and I saw Click and Clack, the Tappet Bros, breaking into a house, I SURELY call 9-1-1!

Tom and Ray Magliozzi may have PhDs, but they sure look like guys who’d break into a house!

Ray: “Don’t drive like my brother”.
Tommy: “Don’t drive like my brother”.

RD,

While I acknowledge that many Americans outside of the Harvard area may never have heard of Henry Louis Gates, many have.  He’s done at least two PBS shows I know of, and has been a “Talking Head” on many news shows over the last decade.  Ok, he’s not yet at Carl Sagan’s level of fame, but I suspect as many people would recognize him as recognize Doris Kearns Goodwin.

But I WOULD expect a police officer in HIS home-town to know who he was.

I would HOPE if a woman saw two White men trying to force a lock she’d call 9-1-1.  I sure as hell would!

There are just too many oddities to this case.  Does Gates have a temper? I don’t know, but maybe. He has gotten pretty upset in the past when EXTREMELY radical professors were sacked and was rather agitated about it.  But did he lose his temper?  Did the cop over-react? I’m pretty sure he did.  Lots of questions.

Maybe after Crowley and Gates drink a beer with Obama they’ll work it out.  I must admit I’d MUCH rather drink a beer with Barack Obama than with George W. Bush (remember that fiasco? “Who would you rather drink a beer with, Bush or Gore?”)

Inherit The Wind, July 26 at 11:15 pm #

There are a lot of puzzles here.

One of which is the general lack of knowledge of the facts, apparently.

What I first can’t get my head around is how the cop did NOT know Henry Louis Gates on SIGHT! Prof. Gates is a man I would recognize if I saw him on the street. Gates is currently the most famous living African-American historian (since John Hope Franklin’s recent passing) and probably among the 3 most famous living historians in America.  If a sports or rock star lived in his town, the cop would recognize him on sight.  And, in the ‘burbs of Harvard, one would expect them to know world-famous scholars—and I mean famous outside their circles.  And let’s not forget the neighbor who dialed 9-1-1. SHE didn’t know that Henry Louis Gates was her neighbor and didn’t recognize him????  What is going on THERE?

I consider myself fairly well informed and yet I had never heard of , or seena picture of, Gates prior to this incident. Three hundred million of us and you expect some cop to know one particular professor??

Further, it wasnt a neighbor who phoned in the report, it was a woman who worked a few doors down from the Gates house as a fundraiser for “The Harvard Magazine” and was leaving work for the day.

Also, I find it hard to believe a cop cited for his ANTI-racist work and as a model of sensitivity would have acted in a racist way as well.  It sounds more like he just got pissed off at Gates and busted him.  It may WELL have had nothing to do with Gates’s race.

I suspect that , had Gates not been black, this incident would never have occurred, no phone call would have been made had it been two white men attempting to force a stuck door, and, if the call had been made, the discourse between the cop and homeowner would have never escalated. Thus it is certainly a race issue.

And the third thing I can’t get my head around is how wildly their two stories diverge-Crowley saying Gates said something about “your mama!” and Gates saying he NEVER speaks that way.  Yet both agree Gates was upset by the cop.  Plus, as Gates points out, he’s an older man on a cane weighing in at around 150 lbs dripping weight and Crowley is much younger, fitter and FAR bigger.

In fairness, any incident of this nature always shows bias on both sides of the dispute, with both attempting to take the high road. Perfectly normal.

As for Obama? Find me a Black man in America who has NOT been hassled by cops in his life, whether pulled over for an infraction other drivers where committing, or simply for profiling.  I see Obama reacting with anger as a Black man to yet another case (apparently ) of a Black man being hassled when ALL the other factors had he be White would have made everything different.  I’ve seen it happen to colleagues—well-dressed, well-spoken professionals.  It’s something we White men don’t have to face.

YUP!

Robertin Westbury,

It may not be clear to you who was right and who was wrong, but it is definitely clear to me.  The policeman should not have forced his way into the Professor’s home ordering him around; there just was not enough evidence based solely on some woman who had no idea what she was talking about and actually should be charged for causing the problem. She was playing like she knew something when she didn’t even know her neighbor.  If she wasn’t mentally deficient, she was paid and charges should be brought against her as well, then see who pays for her attorney fees.  This woman needs to be investigated further.

There are a lot of puzzles here.

What I first can’t get my head around is how the cop did NOT know Henry Louis Gates on SIGHT! Prof. Gates is a man I would recognize if I saw him on the street. Gates is currently the most famous living African-American historian (since John Hope Franklin’s recent passing) and probably among the 3 most famous living historians in America.  If a sports or rock star lived in his town, the cop would recognize him on sight.  And, in the ‘burbs of Harvard, one would expect them to know world-famous scholars—and I mean famous outside their circles.  And let’s not forget the neighbor who dialed 9-1-1. SHE didn’t know that Henry Louis Gates was her neighbor and didn’t recognize him????  What is going on THERE?

Also, I find it hard to believe a cop cited for his ANTI-racist work and as a model of sensitivity would have acted in a racist way as well.  It sounds more like he just got pissed off at Gates and busted him.  It may WELL have had nothing to do with Gates’s race.

And the third thing I can’t get my head around is how wildly their two stories diverge-Crowley saying Gates said something about “your mama!” and Gates saying he NEVER speaks that way.  Yet both agree Gates was upset by the cop.  Plus, as Gates points out, he’s an older man on a cane weighing in at around 150 lbs dripping weight and Crowley is much younger, fitter and FAR bigger.

As for Obama? Find me a Black man in America who has NOT been hassled by cops in his life, whether pulled over for an infraction other drivers where committing, or simply for profiling.  I see Obama reacting with anger as a Black man to yet another case (apparently ) of a Black man being hassled when ALL the other factors had he be White would have made everything different.  I’ve seen it happen to colleagues—well-dressed, well-spoken professionals.  It’s something we White men don’t have to face.

Frank,

You are correct.  I would not want anyone breaking into my house and ordering me around based on what someone I didn’t even know said that didn’t bother to call me first for verification: Not even a policeman.  Policemen do not have that right. They may take that right, but the rights of the property owners are violated.

You have somehow got yourself to believe that there was suspicion, but there wasn’t.  When a person goes missing that person isn’t even looked for for three days, why would something some woman said be more important than a missing person. 

You say this sort of action is legal by police authorities, if so, it should not be.

I’m thankful a “do gooder” like you does not live in my area, because jumping to conclusions is all supposed “do gooders” are good for.  I have never heard of an instance when a nosy “do gooder” actually did something good.  Nosy “do gooders” always suppose they know what’s going on and seldom do; if ever, and no sane policeman should follow the lead of a nosy “do gooder”, and this policeman should have apologized and left the instant he realized he had been played for a fool, instead of antagonizing the Professor and trying to blame his stupidity off on the Professor; which,understandably, upset the Professor, as anyone would have been upset in the same situation.

Then, for the Right-Wing Media to grab on to the story and carry it to the Nth degree, means that it was probably a Right-Wing set up, knowing the Professor was the President’s friend, to get the talk off public health care for all citizens of the United States, that the President wants to be paid for largely by the wealthiest Americans; since the wealthiest Americans have been the only members of American society taking the wealth of the United States for the past two Bush administrations and can even afford to give bonuses, while the economy is down for the rest of the country; so the wealthiest Americans can afford to give back through health care for all citizens of the United States; a wonderful way to have health care for all; but apparently some of the wealthiest Americans aren’t fond of the President’s idea, they’re too accustomed to taking and not giving.

“It is not clear that either was right or wrong, and Obama erred by calling the officer “stupid” in his press conference by taking the side of his friend the professor instead of expressing a more neutral position.”

Obama NEVER called the officer stupid.  He said the police acted stupidly.  And they did.  They had no call to arrest this guy, no matter how mouthy he got with them. 

Having said that, they still didn’t need a warrant to go in - IMO, for the same reasons I provided earlier…

MarthaA, everything in your last post is wrong,  legally speaking. It is also mostly irrational and borderline delusional. You think the caller was ‘paid to put on a show’?  Right…

The police had every right and reason to be there. It’s called Probable Cause, and Reasonable Suspicion. Look it up.

The person that called police to report a door being forced in at a home was being a responsible citizen and a good neighbor, not a ‘crazy woman’.

I suppose if anyone ever is seen breaking into your house to rape or kill you, that you will think it is none of the police’s business if someone else calls and reports seeing an intruder breaking in. They should just stay away unless you call them yourself, right? And if you can’t call because your line is cut or you were asleep until the attacker got to you, well then the cops shouldn’t come snooping around just because somebody else called that wasn’t you, because that’s just hearsay, right?  But if the cops did show up anyway, while you were tied up in the bedroom waiting to be murdered, and the cops saw a man inside the house with a kicked-in door, who didn’t respond to their request to come out and identify himself, well then the cops have no right to come in, right? They should just leave. None of it is their business after all, because nobody in the house called. Right?

Yeah, not so much.

This scenario gives a pretty good idea of why the cops respond in a certain way to these situations, and why you, quite frankly, should be thankful that police will do their job to try and protect you should anything like it ever happen.

Frank,

Nothing in any link I have seen gives a policeman any reason to come into a persons home.  No one from that home had called the police.  All of this is garbage.

The Professor may have had a beer and was trying to relax and all this police stuff being foisted off on him was too much, as he was not involved.  If he had called the police, then that would be different, but he did not.  After all, it was the Professor’s door that was broken, no one else’s door.

Gates does not owe anyone an apology because some crazy woman called the police and the police went crazy. You can’t have disorderly conduct in your own home.  The police had no right to be there, just because his screen was broken and some nosy neighbor thought she saw something means nothing; no reason for police to be bothering anyone in their home and picking an altercation.  There is nothing this woman saw that amounted to anything and she was probably paid to put on a show.

Tony Wicher,

What link?  Garbage.

By Frank, July 26 at 3:40 pm #

At following link you can read the actual police report filed by the officer. If accurate, then it seems Gates is the one who owes the cop an apology for everything that happened up to the arrest.

    x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Frank,

Everybody sees things from his own standpoint. Gates saw the situation from his point of view and the officer saw it from his. There was a bit of an altercation. It is not clear that either was right or wrong, and Obama erred by calling the officer “stupid” in his press conference by taking the side of his friend the professor instead of expressing a more neutral position. However, after a day of criticism from all sides, including his friends, he clearly apologized for his mistake and rectified it by inviting both to the White House for a beer. In so doing, Obama was being honest while taking the lead in race relations, acting as a mediator and peacemaker bringing the people together.

Ardee,

“No, achieving true equality will come when whiteys like you and I understand that this sort of police behavior when minorities are involved happens all the damn time.”

Though I prefer not look at myself as a whitey, others can look at themselves in that light if preferred. Your comments have merit and are substantiated by John Ridly at the following link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-ridley  , sorry do not know how to link RSS feeds.

“To that end, how refreshing was it during his presser to hear the president say that the arresting officer in the Gates case acted “stupidly?” Now that that’s officially out there, it’s not for Gates to prove he was in the right. Let Sgt. James Crowley prove in this instance he wasn’t stupid for placing a 58-year-old professor in cuffs in the middle of the day.”

If, in a Court of Law, the Professor brings charges against the Police Officer for his horrendous treatment by the police in his own home, without a WARRANT, the parties to watch are the parties that will be paying the bill for the Police Department to support the accusations of the Police Officer against the Professor. There will have to be money coming into the Police Department from somewhere to foot the bill, as a Police Officer doesn’t have the money to defend himself.  Of course, the Entertainment Media will be for the whole Police Department standing behind their officer, so extra money will be going into the Police Department from somewhere while the Right’s Media Entertainment Game of breaking the Professor continues non-stop for the public’s consumption, similar to the Roman Colosseum.  If you can find who is behind the payments to the Police Department, you will find the Right’s racist tyrannous culprits that caused the problem in the first place, because this type of legal situation is becoming relatively common for high profile members of the Left.

MarthaA, the police didn’t go to Gate’s house to arrest him. They went there to investigate a report of a possible crime in progress. In other words, they went to do their job. At least learn a little about the case and before you spout off hysterically about it.

Are you suggesting that the police should have ignored a phone call from a reported eye-witness about a possible break-in? I hope not, as that would make you sound silly.

Are you suggesting that that when police saw someone inside the house with a broken front door, where a possible break-in was just reported, that they should have just assumed, without ID verification,  that the person inside was the owner, rather than a possible intruder? I hope not, as that would make you sound silly.

Also, you keep throwing the word ‘warrant’ around. Arrest warrants issued by a judge are not required for offenses that happen in plain view of a police officer, such as the case of Gates.  He was not arrested for burglary, but for disorderly conduct due to his ridiculous over-reaction and verbal assault of a police officer who was just there doing his job.  The cop would have been wiser to just leave after confirming Gates ID, despite Gates verbal assault, but everything the officer reportedly did up to that point was entirely correct and justified. It was Gates acting like a spastic idiot that caused the whole mess in the first place.

At following link you can read the actual police report filed by the officer. If accurate, then it seems Gates is the one who owes the cop an apology for everything that happened up to the arrest.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates3.html

Arde

Of course there are abuses preformed by some police, evidently other people know much more about the circumstances of this case than I, and some opinions seem profoundly against the law, at least from the way the posts are written, plus this is turned into a race card about my opinion because it does not dove tail with another opinion?

If someone believes the police were wrong in arresting Gates and someone else does not agree, obviously this makes the disagreeing person a raciest and of course a personified whitey. Jumping to conclusions and making accusations from assumptions about other peoples comments is a right, but does not mean they are right.

My premise is I do not know what really happened and who was wrong in this, though I find what happened uncomfortable and maybe the law needs to be changed?  Others claim to know what happened and who was wrong, so be it, we have judge jury and convectors.

The Race Card only takes attention away from the Oppression and Tyranny Cards that were played against the Left.  Without having a Patriotism Card to play, the Police Card should not have been played.  In this destructive Police/Media Power Game played by the Right’s media pundits, the police became suckers, the police do not have a Rights Card to accost citizens in their homes.

So, an outstanding citizen has been accosted by the police based on the Hearsay Card, with the Right’s media playing the Police Rights Card against the Race Card in their Entertainment Gossip Tyranny Game against the Left, as usual.

Leefeller, July 26 at 11:24 am #

Ardee

So, achieving true equality may be done by speculating on what could have happened at the Gates house? So far it seems many seem inclined to prefer generalizing their feelings toward one group of society in voicing their opinions with out reason or fact.  Seems this is what bigots regularly do. Promoting preconceived opinions with out really knowing anything of the facts, for facts do not matter. 
............................

No, achieving true equality will come when whiteys like you and I understand that this sort of police behavior when minorities are involved happens all the damn time.

If we seek an end to such injustices then we get off our privileged asses and our high horses and make a stink each and every time. It doesn’t matter what the details were, what matters is a man in his own home was hauled off to jail because he was black. It doesn’t matter if Professor Gates was loud, obstreperous or rude, it doesn’t matter if that policeman, Sgt. Crowley, is a model cop, Gates went to jail for the crime of being at home while black.

This would never have occurred had the Professor been white,period. I believe you speak from a white perspective and not out of consideration for the many, many times this occurs to non whites.

Leefeller, the usefulness of analying incidents like this is to determine the amount of racism that still exists in people like yourself.  Your assertion that racism exists, and the racist card is played by all sides, equates the people being discriminated and oppressed with the bigots doing the oppressing.  I hadn’t realized that your identification with bigotry was so blatant.

This was the remark used by many of the Boston residents commenting in the Boston Globe, that Gates is playing the ‘racist card.’  this being an illegitimate weapon in the hands of an uppity black mouthing off to an Officer, and he should be punished for it. 

It indicates the vast resevoir of racism still existing in Americans, including Americans who think they are Progressive, like Leefeller.

People are now consciously less racist, and if the unconscious racism is made conscious, the tendency exists to repudiate it.  Ardee and others are making it conscious, but it turns out there is enormous resistence to doing so.  People like Leefeller know in their heart they are right, to use the old Goldwater slogan that appealed to racism.  That was a half century ago, but apparently the historical process of eliminating racism has a long way to go.

This is tyranny of the professor.  The enormous elephant that always gets ignored is that the Professor was in his home, his sanctuary; and there was NO WARRANT, just an altercation with misguided police based on hearsay.  The police are not suppose to come into your home.  There is no law against what one says to a police officer who is being criminally accosted by the police in their own home, without a warrant.  The police based on hearsay violated the professor’s home and because he wasn’t overwhelming happy with the situation, handcuffing him for what he said in his own home, without a warrant.  There is something terribly wrong with this picture.  If the police had evidence, the police would have had a WARRANT for his arrest.  When the police can come and accost a professor’s in his home and arrest him, without a WARRANT, strictly on hearsay without any proof what so ever as evidence of guilt other than someone called in, our country has gotten into too much of a POLICE STATE. We must turn around.  There has to be more evidence than a hearsay telephone call and a verbal altercation with police in your own home to get arrested.  This is oppression and tyranny gone to seed.  The Patriot Act was only for Arab terrorists, since it is being used to attack citizens in their homes on hearsay, the Patriot Act should and must die.

Ardee

So, achieving true equality may be done by speculating on what could have happened at the Gates house? So far it seems many seem inclined to prefer generalizing their feelings toward one group of society in voicing their opinions with out reason or fact.  Seems this is what bigots regularly do. Promoting preconceived opinions with out really knowing anything of the facts, for facts do not matter. 

One can speculate the police were bigoted in this case because of race, which seems to be raceist on it’s own merit.

Racism exists and the card is played to it’s fullest extent by all sides, blocking commentary on equality is not my intent.  What seems to be happening and why this article is yet another MSM frenzy seems more like a programed distraction and a refueling for the continued program of divisiveness.

Leefeller, July 25 at 10:38 pm #

Surmise your hearts out and profess the facts, seems some believe they are judge and jury.
......................

Of course human nature will out, especially in a political forum such as this one. Yet your well versed but sarcastic commentary seems poised to block any commentary on this pressing and urgent illustration of exactly how far we have yet to go to achieve true equality.

Was Gates arrested for owning a home?  Was he guilty of being H W B?  http://www.3quarksdaily.com/  Scroll down to Gates article.

Re tim, July 25 at 6:59 pm #

Obama doesn’t learn. He screwed up by getting involved, then backpedals, then asks both to come to White House…STAY OUT OF THIS! Invitation clearly politically motivated to reduce his perceived stupidity factor. Where are the honest men?

  x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x

I completely disagree with this. On the contrary, Obama realized his mistake and made up for it by inviting both to come to the White House and talk it over. This is a brilliant move that I guarantee will gain him brownie points with both constituencies - black people and policemen.

Surmise your hearts out and profess the facts, seems some believe they are judge and jury.  If one were not present,  how dose one know what really happened? Hear say or guess say seems to work for most. Any number of different things   could have happened, but it seems people wag their fingers and make their own conclusions, which are scripted as fact.  No wonder our country is so screwed.

The cop is a bigot, or he is not a bigot?
Gates was an ass or he was not an ass?
The cop felt Gates needed to be humbled?
Gates felt the cop needed to be humbled?
Gates was dressed in drag and the cop tried to pick him up?
The cop is gay and Gates made a pass at the cop?

Add your suggestions for they are as worthy as any.

Surmise as you will,  for surely anyone can be a surmiseer, so far the only thing not heard yet is the Zionists were behind this or did I miss FT’s post?

“Yes, once again, Mr. Westbury, as I noted this in another thread in which you made the same assumption.”

And so, you apparently have assumed that I saw your post…. 

I’m afraid I didn’t. 

“This is not a time to be critical of Gates lack of tact as the incident is so very typical of relations between the police and the minorities of this nation..”

I have not been critical of Gates at all.  I’ve always defended Obama’s use of the word ‘stupidly’ in describing how they handled the situation, and that even if he got belligerent, there is no law against being angry or yelling.  Especially in his own home.

Racism is highly overrated….geez, it’s been on since adam…& pls, give obama a break!...even superman clark kent made his own mistakes…

Underwater Digital Cameras

Racism is highly overrated….geez, it’s been on since adam…& pls, give obama a break!...even superman, clark kent, made his own mistakes…

Underwater Digital Cameras

And for Ardee:

“Once again, the report was not FILED by a neighbor but by a passer by who lived in an entirely different town about 20 miles away”

Once again?  Look, a few days ago Gates gave an interview where he was asked about the neighbor, and he said he hoped she didn’t feel responsible.

Yes, once again, Mr. Westbury, as I noted this in another thread in which you made the same assumption. Five minutes of digging showed that Ms. Whalen ( the one who telephoned the police) worked a few doors down from the Gates residence, ironically as a fundraiser for “Harvard Magazine”. No neighbor she.

I only raise this as you made a comment previously in another thread regarding Gates being ‘unknown by his neighbors’. This is not a time to be critical of Gates lack of tact as the incident is so very typical of relations between the police and the minorities of this nation..

“Pres.Obama had no real factual information of what transpired in the event and he assumed he knew what happen based on HIS racial prejudice.”

That’s totally untrue.  He never assumed anything.  In his answer he stated outright he was not there and did not know all that had happened so he could not say what role race played in the event.  But his conclusion was sound.  There was no reason to arrest this individual – belligerent or not. 

“What the hell is the President of the United States doing getting involved with a local arrest issue?”

He answered a question at a news conference that dealt with a major news story.  Why is that such a problem for you? 

“Can’t he find any other pressing issues to occupy his time with?”

Actually he can.  It’s called Healthcare, and it is what he was focused on that night. 

“Doesn’t he realize that many black Americans are dying needlessly every day be cause we have a greedy for profit health care system?”

LOL.. Isn’t the answer to this question obvious?  Ah, he pretty much said the same thing when asked why he was so eager to get a bill through before the August recess…  though he didn’t specify that the Americans suffering were black, because Americans of all races are suffering under the current system. 

And for Ardee:

“Once again, the report was not FILED by a neighbor but by a passer by who lived in an entirely different town about 20 miles away”

Once again?  Look, a few days ago Gates gave an interview where he was asked about the neighbor, and he said he hoped she didn’t feel responsible.  I can’t find that interview, it was on CNN or MSNBC, but that has been the general gist of the story.  In searching for that interview, I did find this link to a different interview,
http://www.theroot.com/views/skip-gates-speaks?page=0,2,
and in that interview, the Interviewer says this: 

“TR: What do you make of the suspicious neighbor who called the police with an erroneous report of “two black men” trying to enter your apartment? Was this neighborhood watch gone wrong?”

So it appears the media was also under the impression that the person who called 911 was a neighbor.  And in this instance, he actually replied that he did not know the woman:

“HLG: I don’t know this person, and I’m sure that she thought she was doing the right thing. If I was on Martha’s Vineyard like I am now and someone was trying to break into my house, I would hope that someone called the police and that they would respond. But I would hope that the police wouldn’t arrest the first black man that they saw—especially after that person gives them an ID—and not rely on some trumped-up charge, which is what this man was doing.”

So forgive me if I, like the rest of the country had the wrong impression of who she was. 

And 2nd, no I am not kidding.  That he is elderly and frail is meaningless.  Old frail people commit crimes all the time.  Hell, recently two old ladies in Florida, much older than Gates, were arrested for killing older men after gaining their trust and having them name them as beneficiaries to their estates.  Nice looking little old grannies.. 

As for your last remark, Ardee… Nothing I said was a stretch.  My health is fine, thank you very much.

Here we are seeing Obama at his best, as a fair, open-minded mediator. I think it’s as big a mistake for left-wingers to reflexively take the side of the black professor as it would be for some white Republican to take the side of the policeman. It was a mistake for Obama to call the actions of the policeman “stupid” at his press conference, but this act of honoring both the policeman and the professor by inviting them to the White House to talk it over is a stroke of political genius that will make up for it.

If Obama could just get national security right, I would resume my unabashed cheer-leading for his presidency.

Ardee seems to understand the issue here, along with Ed Harges.  IT is not complicated or unusual.  That there is all this blather about a straight forward and blatant racist incident I find disquieting.

American Progressives have a long way to go.

Question: If Vernon Jordan had been arrested in a similar scenario, do you think that Bill Clinton would have remained “no comment”?

Gee, I’m pretty doubtful.

FWIW—I think Obama should have had a better understanding of what the various problem issues were and are ... I think he spoke too soon and was “wishy-washy” trying not to offend, just affirm his impression of what the Cambridge police had already acknowledged ...

Personally I don’t really care about his opinion. I’m a little uncomfortable wrt his “entrapping” Crowley into playing nice ... but, hey, that’s me ... and Boston really doesn’t need to have its long-standing racial tension increased… and I think Crowley appreciates that too.

Obama, in the interest of diplomacy, has suggested a false symmetry in this situation: he has said that it appears that both parties “overreacted” in this situation.

But it was only the policeman who abused his official power to compel another person to submit to arrest and incarceration. Whatever hostile, irritable things Gates may have said, they cannot compare in offensiveness to the policeman’s abuse of the power invested in him by the state.

I don’t know that this is a true statement.  Reports state that Gates was very well known in his neighborhood, so if anyone should have recognized him it would have been his neighbor, the one who called the police.  The cops responded to her call.

Once again, the report was not FILED by a neighbor but by a passer by who lived in an entirely different town about 20 miles away.

When an officer has sufficient reason to suspect a crime is being committed, I believe he has the right to enter a private residence without a warrant.  If the professor went to the back to get his ID, and there was reasonable doubt that he owned the place (which the call from the neighbor provided) - then he would have been legally justified to follow him to the back of the home.  Had he not, and had it been a real criminal, he could have escaped out the back, or worse, picked up a weapon and we’d have a dead cop on our hands.  There could have even been a hostage situation…  Who knows.  But there was sufficient reason for the cop to follow him.

You gotta be kidding, right ? Have you seen the photo of this professor? Can you honestly think him an object of suspicion? He was harassed for the “crime” of being black while home, period. He became obnoxious when asked to step out of his own home after proving it actually was his own home. I would become a bit angry as well. Please Mr. Westbury, dont hurt yourself stretching so…

sheesh, I keep being asked about a white professor and a black cop ...

I think the white professor would have screamed bloody murder and been believed ... and I think the black cop would have been SENSITIVE enought to back down ...

Do you think that people do not complain about the police EVERY DAY? White folk, black folk, brown folk ... The minute Gates said he intended to file a complaint Crowley should have give him one the card that the Cambridge police carry for anyone who want to identify them ... and his badge number ... in writing

are you kidding?

First of all, Obama was upset about this?  The news person who asked the stupid question was the the one who started the problem, Obama could have said I do not know the facts and left it at that, but he did not.

One may suspect this may have been a planned distraction by parties who did not want to keep the focus on the Health Plan issue. The MSM loves to distract with the constant look over here, reminds me of someone pointing behind an oppoinent saying “Oh, look at that” while playing checkers and upon the opposition looking behind them,  moving the opponents piece.

What do you think the scenario would have been if it were a White Professor and a Black Cop?  Is race an issue? Pres.Obama had no real factual information of what transpired in the event and he assumed he knew what happen based on HIS racial prejudice. What the hell is the President of the United States doing getting involved with a local arrest issue?
  Can’t he find any other pressing issues to occupy his time with?  Doesn’t he realize that many black Americans are dying needlessly every day be cause we have a greedy for profit health care system? Oh, I’m sorry I forgot, they are mostly poor people and they don’t live in Cambridge!

Obama used “stupidly” deliberately because it was safer than the other words that come to mind ... his problem was that people who have been shown they were in the wrong (like the police officer and the department when the charges were dropped and as virtually all legal commentary has affirmed) often “take personally” the criticism ... so acting stupidly is taken for being called stupid.

At some point I am going to have to find the place in this story where Gates called this officer a racist. Everything I have read that I recall instead is about GATES being the victim of racial profiling ... many argue that racial profiling is not racist. It has been decried by legal people as a form of institutionalized racism—an acknowledged policy and practice of targeting minority individuals and communities because “that’s where the crime it.”  Regardless of the utility and the various justifications for this practice, for the individual being pulled over and/or detained without probable cause, it is a civil rights violation based on race.

Is the individual following the department’s policy a racist? That should not be assumed. The police departments who defend profiling contend that racism is not at the core of the practice but allocation of resources and crime prevention (“doing our job most effectively”)

Odd how big these little distinctions here become.

Why did President Obama begin by saying he didn’t hold all the facts in the matter, but then went on to talk of the situation as if he had all the facts?

I’m reminded of how passionately and forcefully Senator Obama spoke against the Patriot act, rendition, indefinite detention and domestic electronic surveillance only to change his mind once he gained a larger understanding of these issues after becoming president.

I’m further reminded of how strenuously Sen. Obama spoke against “no bid contracts” only to continue the practice after he was sworn in. Sen. Obama should have understood that it was the congress that designed no bid contracts decades ago.

It seems to me we are witnessing a pattern emerging.

I have enjoyed reading many of the posts on Truthdig, and have learned several things from many of the thoughtful commentators. I’ll probably continue to read it for awhile, but this latest story has given me my fill of the nattering classes. The last time I did this was with Common Dreams, which went down the same route…

I am NOT referring to you all. I am talking about our President. With this latest garbage, followed by an invitation to the White House, I find my self wondering if he is auditioning to replace Oprah when he retires from the Presidency.

Obama has done little or nothing for Blacks in America, other than to lecture them at every opportunity like some disapproving neighbor, shaking his finger at the rowdy kids in the neighborhood.

but, insult a Bi-Racial Harvard Professor, and Obama gets all riled up.

The advent of the internet, personal web sites, Facebook, Twitter, and god only knows what else - to go along with the cell phones we cannot ignore even to make a left-turn in heavy traffic, has caused me an information breakdown.

Did anyone notice that Zelaya returned to Honduras [briefly], and is now ensconced on the Border between Nicaragua and Honduras? Hillary condemned his ‘Risky’ behavior. I wonder if that is the equivalent [in her mind] of Bill’s sleeping around with who knows whom, and with what?

SusanSunflower… I also agree that the arrest was the officer punishing Gates for being belligerent.  And this is where Obama’s criticism is valid.  Stupidly was the wrong word to use. 

There is nothing in the constitution that says the free speech it provides for us has to be polite and respectful.  The police have too much power to just arrest anyone if they don’t like their tone or what they are saying.  Minus any weapon held by Gates that would have signified a threat, he had the right to say whatever he wanted in his own home.  And if they didn’t like it they should have just left…

Martha said,

“The police should not have been there arresting the Professor at his home without a warrant.”

I don’t know that this is a true statement.  Reports state that Gates was very well known in his neighborhood, so if anyone should have recognized him it would have been his neighbor, the one who called the police.  The cops responded to her call. 

When an officer has sufficient reason to suspect a crime is being committed, I believe he has the right to enter a private residence without a warrant.  If the professor went to the back to get his ID, and there was reasonable doubt that he owned the place (which the call from the neighbor provided) - then he would have been legally justified to follow him to the back of the home.  Had he not, and had it been a real criminal, he could have escaped out the back, or worse, picked up a weapon and we’d have a dead cop on our hands.  There could have even been a hostage situation…  Who knows.  But there was sufficient reason for the cop to follow him. 

I believe Obama stated correctly that the police acted stupidly.  That does not mean he endorsed the idea that race had anything to do with the officer’s motives.  What he meant was that once the ID had been provided and the reasonable doubt been removed, he could have handled a ranting homeowner better.  As the man was yelling at him about this happening because he is a ‘black man in America,’ the officer, himself a trainer in racial profiling’ may have exercised a thicker skin and just left.  Once he realized the old man was interpreting this as a racial event, he could have diffused the situation by leaving him be. 

What I don’t understand is why Gates, who has voiced a great deal of appreciation and understanding for his own neighbor who should have recognized him - to the point of saying he is grateful that someone would defend his property by calling the police, can’t feel gratitude for the police themselves for going to the trouble to ensure he was who he claimed to be…. 

Hopefully they both will have their beer with Obama at the White House and smooth it all over.  Nobody should apologize as there are legitimate points on all sides, but they can maybe come to a consensus of how a similar future event can be handled. 

And hopefully afther their meeting, the country can again get back to focusing on healthcare, though the Limbaughs of the world will, I’m sure, try to keep this alive as long as possible.

“stupidly” was a tactless, vague word ... and Obama probably should have been more fully informed about discrepancies between the police report and Gates’ version and some “holes” in both ... but I was glad to see Obama stand up for an “angry black man” ...

Gates’ arrest for “disorderly conduct” was a policeman’s punishment for being “uppity”—

Was race a factor? Not necessarily. Hard to prove. Lots seem to think all police would have done the same—I hope not. We could give both the “benefit of the doubt” and chalk it up to a misunderstanding or ego clash. 

The policeman meted out his punishment of Mr. Gates and that was wrong.

Meanwhile, halfway around the world, in India, Mr. Obama’s predatory Secretary of State, (Hellary) Clinton, is busy foisting a deal to sell 126 fighter jets for approximately 12 BILLION dollars and creating two Nuclear power “Parks” for approximately 10 BILLION dollars.

This is because the United States of America has NO problem with racism when it comes to murdering people and poisoning the world, as long as our dear corporate monstrosities like GE or Westinghouse or Lockheed Martin can make immense profits.

I have no way of comprehending the perversity of these cynical, avaricious predators.

There is nothing ‘strange’ about what happened; it happens all the time to African-Americans, just not to Harvard professors.  And both going to the White House, as if they were equally wrong, is not a happy ending.  It is a white washing of police racism.  Another indication of the neoliberal policie state that Obama, following Bush, is installing in the US.

maybe its time for our president to start paying more attention to the young men and women who are being killed daily in the middle east.

Barack, PLEASE learn to keep your mouth shut when you are asked about things like this! It is an DISTRACTION and would have died a natural death without your “STUPID” comment! We need health care reform, not media distractions! This is ALL bullshit!

I think the real story here is not police racism, but police over-reaction.

You can spend an entire day watching police videos in which police beat up and taze defenseless citizens. Usually, the police claim their actions are warranted because the victims were “out of control”, but it ends up it is the police who were out of control.

Conservatives are especially into this worship of the police, just as they worship the military, no matter what they do.

Need some examples?

http://www.break.com/index/arkansas-police-brutality.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.../police-brutality-cops-pun_n_203245.html

Or, just google “police brutality videos” and get ready for an eye-full.

Usually, the “crime” of “interfering with a law enforcement officer” consists of asking questions or arguing.

The crime of “resisting arrest” consists of the same.

Obama is right. Police often do act stupidly. And, I would add, criminally.

On 4 December 1807 a stony meteorite fell near the town of Weston, Massachusetts. Yale Professors Silliman and Kingsley studied the stone and confirmed that it was a
stone that had fallen from the heavens”. When the report reached Jefferson he is reported to have said “I would more easily believe that two Yankee professors would lie than that stones would fall from heaven”. Trouble was that he was wrong. To Jefferson’s credit he ordered an investigation which vindicated the Yankee professors.

On 4 December 1807 a stony meteorite fell near the town of Weston, Massachusetts. Yale Professors Silliman and Kingsley studied the stone and confirmed that it was a stone that had fallen from the heavens”. When the report reached Jefferson he is reported to have said “I would more easily believe that two Yankee professors would lie than that stones would fall from heaven”. Trouble was that he was wrong. To Jefferson’s credit he ordered an investigation which vindicated the Yankee professors.

On 4 December 1807 a stony meteorite fell near the town of Weston, Massachusetts. Yale Professors Silliman and Kingsley studied the stone and confirmed that it was a stone that had fallen from the heavens”. When the story reached Jefferson he is reported to have said “I would more easily believe that two Yankee professors would lie than that stones would fall from heaven”. Trouble was that he was wrong. To Jefferson’s credit he ordered an investigation which vindicated the Yankee professors.

What President Obama first stated was correct.  The police should not have been there arresting the Professor at his home without a warrant.  Obama was correct.  I wish he had stood by what he originally said, because he was correct, the police acted “stupidly”. If Obama changed anything, he should only have changed stupid to ignorant, but nothing else.  Should the Professor secure a criminal attorney, the police will find out that they should have had a warrant and when they do, I hope it is made known to the world that the police acted stupidly.