Obama in racist cop row

faceless · admin Joined: 25 Apr 2006

Reading some of the comments there is pretty sickening. Do these people who say you should just obey the police and say 'yes sir, no sir' really think they live in a free country? To them it seems that living in a permanent state of fearful pressure from authority is perfectly acceptable.

pirtybirdy · 'Native New Yorker' Joined: 29 Apr 2006 Location: FL USA

The professor was wrong, plain and simple, and Obama made a big mistake by opening his gob before he knew the facts......no surprise there.

faceless · admin Joined: 25 Apr 2006

He was wrong to question a cop in his own house?

The cop was a jobsworth rather than someone who takes each situation on its merits. An arsehole with a badge.

Aja · Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 1:29 am Post subject:

Skylace · Admin Joined: 29 Apr 2006 Location: Pittsburgh, PA

someguy · Joined: 23 Jun 2009

luke · Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Location: by the sea

i'm a bit confused as to whats happened, the fox article is a little sparse on the actual details, and the link to the police report from the fox page doesn't work.

what was the professor actually arrested for - what was the 'disorderly conduct'? why was that charge later dropped?

without knowing the events step by step i can't really make a judgment.

edit - looking at other news sources i found this;

Professor Gates attempted to enter his front door, but the door was damaged. Professor Gates then entered his rear door with his key, turned off his alarm, and again attempted to open the front door. With the help of his driver they were able to force the front door open, and then the driver carried Professor Gates’ luggage into his home.” Both Gates and his driver are African-American. According to the Cambridge (Mass.) police report, a white woman saw the two black men attempting to enter the home and called police.

The officer asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver’s license to the officer. Both include Professor Gates’ photograph, and the license includes his address.” Police Officer James Crowley reported that Gates responded to his request for identification: “Why? Because I’m a black man in America?” Despite his positive identification, Gates was then arrested for disorderly conduct.

if that account is true, then its does seem wrong for him to be arrested. regarding obamas comments i don't see anything controversial about him saying 'I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry, Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.'

obama later said "i'm surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement because I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home."

He said he had heard Crowley was an "outstanding police officer," but added that with all that is going on in the country, "it doesn't make sense to arrest a guy in his own home if he's not causing a serious disturbance."

pirty, what actions of the professor do you see as 'wrong, plain and simple'?

what did obama say in his statement that you think was a 'big mistake'? what parts of his statement, if any, do you disagree with, and why?

someguy · Joined: 23 Jun 2009

As far as I have read it was disorderly conduct, and he was released because he is a bourgeois member of that particular community and a friend of the President (prolly his neighbor doesn't know this). It is all a big bowl of wrong.

luke · Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Location: by the sea

someguy · Joined: 23 Jun 2009

Honestly, Luke, in this country a police officer may detain you at anytime if they deem you to be a threat to yourself or someone else. So that means it is pretty easy for an officer to say that they felt like there was a direct threat to the community. Which is prolly what happened in this case.

Aja · Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:27 am Post subject:

Sera_6969 · Joined: 23 Jul 2008

Prof. was pretty stupid to say that to the cop and it's fair to say the cop over reacted but, come on, black or white, English or American being sarky to a cop isn't going to land you in a bed of roses. The only reason to be surprised at this story is if you REALLY couldn't see how it'd end!

"Is this your car sir?"
"I'm driving it, aren't I?"

And trust a politician to stomp in making mointains out of molehills...

Kezza · Gone To The Dogs! Joined: 30 Apr 2006

I just read the police report at "The Smoking Gun." Draw your own conclusions.

My personal opinion: I was struck by the narrative where the police officer states that Gates was yelling at him so the policeman says that if Gates had any further questions, "I would speak with him outside the residence." So Gates is upset and yelling at the officer while complying with the officer's request to speak with him outside. Once outside and in view of other officers and citizens, Officer Crowley tells Gates he is being disorderly.

But wait....Crowley told him that if Gates wished to speak with him, Gates had to follow him outside???? And now that they're outside, Crowley is warning Gates to calm down whilst Crowley "withdrew my department issued handcuffs from their carrying case."

Why couldn't Crowley allow Gates to calm down whilst still in his own home? Gates was angry, for sure, but if Crowley had just let him vent his anger and frustration and not made a public circus out of it, none of this would have blown up the way it did.
My 2p.....

The Smoking Gun - Gates Police Report

buddy55 · Joined: 14 Apr 2009

here is the full police report of what took place

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html

faceless · admin Joined: 25 Apr 2006

good god, it seems the man was exhibiting loud and tumultuous behaviour! Laughing

string im up! Rambunctiousness will not be tolerated!