Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. & The Cambridge Police
 

I imagine with this blowing up the way it has there will be a thread on it.

What side have you currently found yourself on?

They arrested him for "disorderly conduct". I just think the lead (arresting) officer did not like getting yelled at in front of his men. Since when is it against the law to get pissed off, and yell at someone that is on your property. He did not have a "weapon", or threaten the police officers. I would be pissed too. There is a profiling "problem", but they are taking the whole incident too far. The President has more important things that need to be addressed. What I found interesting is that it seems the neighbors did not recognise that the man lived there. Don't people know who their neighbors are?

I know I don't.

Where do you live?

My part of town is sorta sketchy anyhow.

Suburban Maryland. We have lots of police here, high taxes too. But I'm o.k. with that.

lawl. Where Chevy Chase? Because in MA they send a gun to your door with a gun to take your first born if you can't afford the 50% tax rate here. (kidding but seriously)

A little bit more patience and tact on both sides and the whole incident would had a different outcome. If the professor had complied to the officier's request and didn't become belligerent and made a slight at the police officier's mother he wouldn't had been arrested.

The real crime here is slander, having Sgt. James Crowley labeled as a racist.

I don't think he's a racist, just a typical ******* cop. Does that mean he was in the right? NO. But what he did wrong had nothing to do with racism and everything to do with not knowing the limits of his authority and not recognizing the rights of an American home owner. This cop arrested this guy in his own home, for saying something about his momma. I would be pissed too, but that doesn't mean you can arrest some guy when you're in HIS HOME, with no warrant, and after your probable cause has been dismissed. They didn't have the right to be there at the time, they had already established that no laws had been broken, yet insisted on hassling the guy. But instead of standing there spouting "yes, sir." over and over again, he stood up for himself and told them to get out, he hadn't done anything wrong. The officer didn't take kindly to that, and obviously felt the need to flex his police muscle.

Like I said, I don't think it's a case of racism, just very very very bad police work. Not unlike what we see in the media, and in our everyday lives. Not that cops are bad, they do a great service, but the certain bad seeds ruin the image, and the police departments not making an example out of these sort of cases is not helping the situation.

He actually arrested him outside his home after Gates followed him outside and continued his verbal crusade.

Only because the police asked him to "continue the conversation on the porch." It's not like the guy chased them into the street screaming. They persuaded him onto the porch, still his own property.

Wow you really had to weasel your way into having it say that. The officer stated he was leaving and that if Gates had anymore questions he would continue the conversation with him outside the residence. Then was warned twice to calm down before being arrested on the third.

This is a case of an upper crust elitist having to respond to a middle class working person, going tilt and then reaching into the grab bag and pulling out the race card. As an esteemed professor of African history and a PhD in African American Studies, he knew this was a sure fire way to garner Pavlovian support by people who would not be interested in the facts of a case, but would react predictably given the correct stimulus. Even a man as politically astute and smart as our President was lured down that road, until he learned the facts and quickly backed away.

You'd be best to follow the President's lead.

Weasel huh? How is that weaseling anything when it's almost word for word, without changing the context of the statement? You don't believe that the thought of bringing the upset man outside would give him a legit excuse to make an arrest ever crossed his mind?

Why would he say he had the man identified, then proceed to say "keep the cars coming, and notify Harvard University Authorities" if he already had dismissed the possibility of a crime? I agree with you 100% that he didn't have the right to pull the race card and consider it a low blow myself. As stated in my first post, I don't believe this is an issue of racism, just bad police work. If you can't handle a simple misunderstanding without taking an innocent man to jail on a charge that has no defined boundaries then how are you a legitimate cop? I'm not saying that the home owner is a saint either, he definately acted inappropriately, but does that warrant an arrest?

Btw, the president never apologized. Only stated that he should have worded his statement differently. Hope I'm not weaseling by quoting someone again.

"Asking to continue to the conversation on the porch" and "telling him you are leaving and if he'd like to continue the conversation he can follow him outside" are pretty different.

He then warned him twice once outside. The guy got his chances and continued to overreact.

I still don't see how you can arrest someone who is simply "venting". He had no weapon or was not a threat to the police. He was just ranting, on his own property. Is this against the law? Does not seem fair.

People need to get the f-ck over themselves. Black or white, people are arrested all of the time and never charged with anything. The Obama statement has been taken waaaay out of context.

The police may have acted "stupidly" by making an arest when one wasn't needed, but I highly, highly, doubt it had anything at all to do with race. Beside that, these officers are trained and know what they're doing. All we do is perpetuate racism more.

This forum has hit the nail right on the head with this one for the most part.

The Woman who called the police did the right thing.

Professor Gates should have known better then to berate the officer but certainly did not need to be arrested.

The officer acted within his right to arrest Prof. Gates because he technically disturbing the peace and\or obstructing justice but he obviously arrested him not because he needed to in order to restore order, but because he was offended by Professor Gates conduct and wanted to "teach him a lesson". Within the legal circle the officers actions are called "lawful but awful".

The real mistake here is when Gates broguht race into the issue. The media ran with it instead of investigating and figuring out the truth. Gates was not arrested because he was black and the cop was a racist but because he was an a-hole and the cop was a dick. This happens all the times ignorant people and a-holes are always accused of being racist when really race was never a factor in determining their actions.

Professor Gates actions are purely racist by definition, but I would still not classify him as a racist based on this instance because he likely believed the cop was motivated by race.

President Obama's reaction was probably a foolish one and clearly a misinformed one, but motivated because the man arrested was his friend not because he was black.

Glen Beck is an idiot, his comments display just how igrorant an biased he is.

well Glenn Beck is a cartoon character anyway. What did he say?

In his own words:

Fox News host Glenn Beck calls Obama a racist - The Daily Voice - Black America's Daily News Source

He's just a man I cannot figure out.

Some of these guys you can tell have been burned by something or someone at a time in their lives.

Glenn Beck looks like a happy go luck dip**** and yet someone has become the high riser of the Republican extreame-wing.

I'm just rolling the dice on "sold his soul to the devil."

for being an "intellectual", obama sure is a fucking idiot for commenting on this joke of a story.

Could have happened to anyone. The only reason we know about it is because he's the President. He's only human.

the political mind is more complex than raw intellect.

and really, why wasn't Emmanuel smashing skulls making sure this didn't happen.

Everyone should have been briefed 1000 times over in case a question was asked.

the political mind is the E-Coli bacteria of raw intellect

Where'd ya hear that one? On the barstool down the street from the factory where you work on the assembly line? Or the college class room from some douche with a goatee?

Politics is the only real test of a man left.

I wouldn't say "real," but the only reason it the only test left is because it has no answers. If Politicians had an answers and actually solved problems there would be no need for them. They subversively perpetuate problems and pretend they're getting things done. No matter what they do or don't do, all they need is enought BS to get themselves reelected. It's like Brazil meets Catch 22.

who have you been talking to?

I have an interest in history and movies and conspiracy theories and talk radio. And all I can say is "Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see."

just say to yourself ten times real fast
political pundits pontificate profusely

h'oh boy.

alright well hey listen, it was great talking to ya. I'll think about what ya said...interesting stuff.

woops! I didn't mean to post 'political pundits pontificate profusely' here. I want to post that in another thread about Michael Savage, I guess I did that because I was drunk after drinking suds with my buds from the factory. You know how it is. It wasn't me talking it was Samuel Adams - the beer.

I don't know you too well, I don't know how enthuisastic you are about politics. I don't know how knowledgeable you are about politics, who knows, I could be speaking to someone with a BA or a PhD in Political Science. To me Politicians are disingenuous, to you the political mind is more complex.

Things don't get done because you live in a Democracy which naturally requires and expects issues to be discussed and improved before it can be put to a vote of your nations selected representatives who all hold opinions and all disagree with each other. It's what stops one person from holding all the power and being allowed to make excessively corrupt decisions. It also means very little gets done, and what does takes a long time.

Quit whining, it's much better than living in a situation where you vote and correspondence has no meaning whatsoever. It's not a "conspiracy theory" it's an open fact of function. Unfortunately reality is much less popular than reading Orwell and waxing lyrical about the Big Brother state.

no comment

If that's an allusion to "not a Democracy! It's a Republic!" read a ****ing book.

You have a propensity for profanity, read a dictionay!

Wonderful!

Yeah that's right, you've really elaborated your thoughts and come up with a precise and eloquent response. I suddenly no longer think you to be a cretin.

Shut the f-ck up both of you! PM eachother if you think its nessicary to carry on this rubbish.

Alright, lets cut the bitch fest all the mod talk and get back on topic please.

Yeah like what beer did they drink?

Blue Moon, Bud Light, and Red Stripe Grace the Obama Beer Summit

I think further discussion on this is irrelevant. Whether you think it was race motivated or not the problem seems to be solved now. The officer and Henry Gates jr. are even going to a baseball game together! Overall I think a few people made a few mistakes but handled them very well. A good example of how conflicts like this should be resolved: with beer.