Is Obama fueling the Gate's incident?

  • News
  • Thread starter waht
  • Start date
In summary, the conversation revolved around the incident involving Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley. President Obama publicly stated that the police "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates, but later clarified that he did not have all the facts. The officer involved had taught a class on racial profiling and was praised by his superiors. There were also discussions about Gates' behavior and whether or not it was appropriate for him to be arrested. Some felt that the incident was not important, while others saw it as a perfect storm of misunderstandings and bad luck.
  • #71
mheslep said:
I'm recalling the recent back flip rationalizations used by Judge Sotomayor to distance herself from the 'wise Latina' comments, and everyone happy to give her the benefit of the doubt: 'slow down, slow down, look at her record.' Then I reread this transcript, see the condemnation of a cop and immediate connection to racism by the President. Now I'm angry.

Dam right it does, thanks in no small part to you.
I was meaning to bring that up for discussion in that thread about her... strangely that thread died when the confirmation hearings began. She looked really bad in them. Yeah, this is more of what Obama is all about. The reason I said this would affect him in 3 years is that in his last election, he was successfuly able to argue that he didn't buy into Pastor's beliefs by flip-flopping on his longtime friend and mentor and rejecting him. Far fetched to say the least, but it worked. Here, he has no such out: this time, it is his own words that will be on the Republican commercials.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #72
russ_watters said:
Wouldn't a driver's license be just as good as asking for the mail...and more in line with standard operating procedure?

Another option as well ,but putting little things together that don't invlve more queries would help speed things along and aid in moving on to the next call.
 
  • #73
turbo-1 said:
What is wrong with police acting as adults
This cop acted perfectly professionally.
...backing down when there is no apparent threat...
He did!
...and apologizing for disrupting the life of an ordinary citizen when they have acted appropriatley to what turned out to be a mistaken report?
Sorry, but being an arrogant *** makes Gates unworthy of an apology. If Gates had acted like an adult, he would have been treated like one. Instead, he was treated with a level of respect somewhat lower, but still far greater than he deserved.
I have a biker-buddy who was the head of training for the Mass State Police, and he would have been all over that Cambridge cop for escalating what should have been a routine check-in, check-out call.
There is nothign in that report that implies escalation by the cop. The cop's first response was bewilderment at Gate's irate reaction. He did all he could to defuse the situation.
 
  • #74
j93 said:
This is true but any logical person would assume what happened it lies in Officer Crowley's account or Gates' account or more likely somewhere in between.
I am more likely to believe the person who was rational during the incident.

Odds are, we'll get some more evidence on this anyway, as the officer was talking on the radio and there were a bunch of witnesses. We'll see - but try to be logical about where you place your bet.
 
  • #75
turbo-1 said:
I read the report. Calling the Harvard police was a further imposition on Professor Gates. The Cambridge cops already knew who he was.
The Cambridge cops did not know that it was his house because he did not (until later) provide an ID with an address.
Certainly, the Harvard cops already knew who he was.
Exactly - that's why it was to Gates benefit to call them!
 
  • #76
russ_watters said:
This cop acted perfectly professionally. He did! Sorry, but being an arrogant *** makes Gates unworthy of an apology. If Gates had acted like an adult, he would have been treated like one. Instead, he was treated with a level of respect somewhat lower, but still far greater than he deserved.
There is nothign in that report that implies escalation by the cop. The cop's first response was bewilderment at Gate's irate reaction. He did all he could to defuse the situation.
If you take all the cop's reports at face-value and totally discount Gate's account, you could conceivably come to this conclusion. I'm not so gullible. I have been treated like a second-class citizen and been shaken down by cops before based solely on my appearance. If you think that the cop's description of the incident is 100% accurate and 100% favorable to him, you might need a reality check. Police-work can be touchy, and cops have been known to pad their reports to protect themselves from legal action. Or maybe you didn't know that...
 
  • #77
j93 said:
Another option as well ,but putting little things together that don't invlve more queries would help speed things along and aid in moving on to the next call.
What? What do you mean "more queries"? How is asking for a driver's license "more queries" than asking to see his mail? Each is one! And keep in mind, the only reason the officer needed a second form of ID is that Gates provided an insufficient one in the first query.
 
  • #78
turbo-1 said:
If you take all the cop's reports at face-value and totally discount Gate's account, you could conceivably come to this conclusion. I'm not so gullible...
Personally, I think someone who takes at face value the word of someone who they acknowledge acted improperly is being gullible. But that's just me. Put another way, the only reason (besides your clear, strong personal bias) that you don't believe the cop is the word of someone who you acknowledge acted improperly.

...oh, and while we're at it: where can I read Gates' full report on the incident? By reading his full account, we can see if it is self-consistent and see exactly how it differs from the officer's.
 
  • #79
BTW, when I was shaken-down by the Orono cop in 1970, I had a driver's license, a UMO ID, a campus meal-program card, and other stuff that was pretty solid evidence that I was a student (engineering track at the time) and still that jerk was intent on shaking me down with NO evidence or probable cause.

I hadn't done anything wrong or suspicious, but I was guilty of having long hair late at night with a suspicious guitar case in my hand while I was freezing my fri**ing butt off trying to get home.
 
Last edited:
  • #80
russ_watters said:
...oh, and while we're at it: where can I read Gates' full report on the incident? By reading his full account, we can see if it is self-consistent and see exactly how it differs from the officer's.
...Oh, wait, that's right: no such thing exists!

Here's a CNN report that contains snippets of a statement by Gates' lawer. If you listen carefully, you'll notice they don't disagree with the officer's account at all. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/gates.arrest.reaction/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
 
  • #81
turbo-1 said:
BTW, when I was shaken-down by the Orono cop in 1970, I had a driver's license, a UMO ID, a campus meal-program card, and other stuff that was pretty solid evidence that I was a student (engineering track at the time) and still that jerk was intent on shaking me down with NO evidence or probable cause.

I hadn't done anything wrong or suspicious, but I was guilty of having long hair late at night with a suspicious guitar case in my hand while I was freezing my fri**ing butt off trying to get home.


Relevant, why?

Side: Back in summer of 69' my friends were cruizin in the old el camino when we saw this guy on the side of the road. We offered him a ride and then bla bla bla bla bla ...good god turbo. These meaningless stories never end. The next one will be about how you made a living singing in your local bar.

Gates isn't some long haired hippie with a guitar case living in a small country town. Those were not small country side cops. He doesn't live in a ghetto.
 
  • #82
j93 said:
Nope not a fact, read the report it is basically one long detailed account and a short gloss of events by the other officer.
The second officer's report is what is called a 'supplemental report'. He was not the officer in charge of the situation and so his report required nothing more than for him to discribe what he personally observed of the incident. The contents of his report then is apparently all he personally observed.

Also, writing falsing information in a police or witness report is not only agianst department rules it is against the law and you can go to jail for it. If the police report is at all accurate then there are several witnesses to what occurred outside of the residence (which is what he was arrested for) and any falsification could easily be found out and the officer would lose his job at a minimum.


I've personally been on both sides of this sort of situation. I've dealt with jerk cops that want to give you a hard time and find reasons to get you in trouble and I have been the guy getting yelled at and called a racist for nothing more than doing my job.

Just a few weeks ago I found an apartment door busted in and a man inside the apartment. This intoxicated parolee I found inside someone elses apartment with a busted in door was nicer, more polite, and had more sense than a Harvard Professor in his own home apparently.

Wether or not the man really should have been arrested is a hard call for not having been there. From what I have read I would mostly side with the officer.
 
  • #83
russ_watters said:
...Oh, wait, that's right: no such thing exists!

Here's a CNN report that contains snippets of a statement by Gates' lawer. If you listen carefully, you'll notice they don't disagree with the officer's account at all. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/gates.arrest.reaction/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Russ, just give them warnings to post using facts and sources. It will save you and me a lot of headache dealing with them.
 
  • #84
So I was wrong, we do have at least a little to go on from Gates: Here's a statement by Gate's lawyer and an interview Gates did: http://www.theroot.com/views/lawyers-statement-arrest-henry-louis-gates-jr

http://www.theroot.com/views/skip-gates-speaks

Now the thing that stands out the most of about Gate's account is that it is much thinner than the officer's. It doesn't specifically disagree with what the officer said because much of what is in the police report could simply fit in the holes in Gates' account. But both Gates' and the lawyers' accounts reads like a sanitized version of what he seems to understand was a moment of anger for him. In particular, the lawyer's account makes it sound like they were having a near-friendly chat at the end of the encounter, and then he was suddenly arrested! Obviously, that can be explored by talking to the witnesses. I'm wondering if there is any recourse against Gates if it can be proven he is making false statements about the incident.

One key difference is that the officer says he was present when the phone call to Harvard was made. Gates implies he made the call before the officer arrived. That should be easy to verify, but in any case, it isn't that important.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #85
russ_watters said:
...Oh, wait, that's right: no such thing exists!

Here's a CNN report that contains snippets of a statement by Gates' lawer. If you listen carefully, you'll notice they don't disagree with the officer's account at all. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/gates.arrest.reaction/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Interestingly, why does CNN title this "The 'unfathomable' arrest of a black scholar"
 
  • #86
waht said:
Interestingly, why does CNN title this "The 'unfathomable' arrest of a black scholar"

Are you kidding me? CNN is a joke. They care more about playing with their touchscreen montiors than getting the news right.
 
  • #87
Cyrus said:
Are you kidding me? CNN is a joke. They care more about playing with their touchscreen montiors than getting the news right.

yea and 3D holograms
 
  • #88
waht said:
yea and 3D holograms

Do they have holograms now too? Every time I watch CNN, I'm like "stop playing with the damn touch screens and just report the news!"

It's to the point where they just show off their glitzy and glamorous flat screens, and report highly speculative stories. It's a step above tabloids.
 
  • #89
The CNN holoroom


It's to the point where they just show off their glitzy and glamorous flat screens, and report highly speculative stories. It's a step above tabloids.

agreed
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #90
turbo-1 said:
Check the news. Taking a Harvard professor out of his own house in handcuffs? Come on. Even you should be able to see how ridiculous that is. As far as I know, when you are being harassed in the US (by a private citizen or a public official) it is not a crime to raise a ruckus. What happened to personal freedoms?
He left his house and came after the police. Do you see how ridiculous he was? Not to mention that what he did was reason to arrest him. He was harrassing the police. Seriously turbo, read the report and stop making stuff up.
 
  • #91
russ_watters said:
One key difference is that the officer says he was present when the phone call to Harvard was made. Gates implies he made the call before the officer arrived. That should be easy to verify, but in any case, it isn't that important.
17 Ware St is likely typically serviced by Harvard would explain why Gates is used to calling Harvard Police and dealing with Harvard Police.

Out of curiosity are police required to provide name and badge number. Shouldnt they be due to accountability? This is a general reponse
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #92
Cyrus said:
Russ, just give them warnings to post using facts and sources. It will save you and me a lot of headache dealing with them.

theres a huge difference between your posts and his.

Russ_watters - An argument with relevant links and an opinion based on his experiences and logic with at worst a possible jab here and there

Your posts are the same minus the relevant links or an argument .
Just shallow jabs and Bare assertion arguments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bare_assertion_fallacy
 
  • #93
j93 said:
Out of curiosity are police required to provide name and badge number. Shouldnt they be due to accountability? This is a general reponse

Depends on where you live as far as I know. In NYC it's required: http://www.nyc.gov/html/ccrb/pdf/nmshldanalysis4pg.pdf

It's hard to imagine that it wouldn't be required for a police officer to present his/her badge.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #94
It also makes it easier for people to impersonate an officer if don't need to identify oneself.
 
  • #95
Evo said:
Gates looks like a pompous, arrogant fool.

I don't feel that way. How about simply overly paranoid and overly sensitive...

turbo-1 said:
The cop that arrested Gates is supposedly an expert in racial profiling.

Apparently they never studied the case of how to handle a black Harvard professor. :smile:


I think one should consider the stress on a police officer having to enter (on his own)
a place where a suspected burglary is going on by possible armed robbers. Risking his
live to prevent the robbery of the tv-set and the stereo set...

You might call this brave but in many countries police corps don't require, and won't
even allow, a police officer on his own to take such risks, and would not take action
without considerable reinforcement on the scene.


Regards, Hans
 
  • #96
Evo said:
He left his house and came after the police. Do you see how ridiculous he was? Not to mention that what he did was reason to arrest him. He was harrassing the police. Seriously turbo, read the report and stop making stuff up.
I'm not making stuff up, nor have I the ability to control the photos in the news. Have you seen the photos of his arrest? There were at least 4 cops surrounding him and he was in handcuffs in the doorway of his house, after he has already identified himself. Then they hauled him into take mug-shots that are also available on the 'web. I think you'd be pretty upset to have law-enforcement officers treat you that way in your own home.

Edit: BTW, Crowley told Gates that he would only talk to him outside the house, so if Gates followed him out onto the porch, it was a reasonable concession to the officer.
 
  • #97
turbo-1 said:
I'm not making stuff up, nor have I the ability to control the photos in the news. Have you seen the photos of his arrest? There were at least 4 cops surrounding him and he was in handcuffs in the doorway of his house, after he has already identified himself. Then they hauled him into take mug-shots that are also available on the 'web. I think you'd be pretty upset to have law-enforcement officers treat you that way in your own home.

Edit: BTW, Crowley told Gates that he would only talk to him outside the house, so if Gates followed him out onto the porch, it was a reasonable concession to the officer.
If Gates had simply followed the officer outside, and 'quietly' talked to the officer, there would have been no arrest.

Gates was arrested for yelling at the police officer out in public (disorderly conduct). If stood on the side of the road ranting and raving in public, I'd be arrested too, even if I ran inside my house. One's home is not an automatic sanctuary, if one flees for the scene of one's crime.

It appears Gates automatically assumes the 'white' cop is harrassing him because he (Gates) is African-American. All Gates had to do was provide proof of who he was in a quiet and calm manner, and not go ballistic on the officer. The officer was doing his job (responding to a reported break-in) according to procedures. The officer is not responsible for the fact that the witness apparently reported 'two black males with backpacks'.

And in any event, the OP is about Obama's comments, which were unfortunate, given that Obama didn't know the facts/details. Obama was wrong, and he should apologize to Crowley and the Cambridge Police Department.

Meanwhile - Mass. police unions ask Obama for apology
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090724/ap_on_re_us/us_harvard_scholar_arresting_office
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #98
I see your point, Astro, though I would have been really upset at being accosted in my own home, too. IMO, the officer should have apologized for the mistaken charge and disengaged, even if the professor was "ranting and raving", instead of escalating the situation to an arrest, charge, and booking. After all, how many burglars are 58-59 years old and plying their trade in broad daylight in a nice neighborhood? Yeah, Crowley was probably embarrassed by getting dressed down, but that's no reason to arrest the professor. The officer's escalation of the situation (vs disengagement) was immature, IMO. I do not hold Gates blameless if he indeed verbally abused the officers, but the offense should be tempered by the context. He had returned from a trip abroad and was sick (and probably tired), and was unable to get into his house. Then he gets rousted by some Cambridge cops for trying to get into his own house.

I don't think that Obama owes the police union an apology because he's right. The situation should have been resolved quietly, and the arrest, booking, mug shots, etc, amounted to an insult on the professor that was unwarranted, given the circumstances. He was just trying to get into his own house, after all. I have quite a number of close friends and relatives who are in law enforcement. Given the very rural nature of this state and the paucity of back-up, the troopers, wardens, and sheriffs here are pretty darned diplomatic on the whole.

Here's an example: My friend and musical partner called one Sunday morning to tell me that he had been picked up for operating under the influence and that he would be losing his licence, which would put a stop to our ability to perform as a duo all over the state. He was pretty distraught, so I drove up to his place to keep him company for a bit, and the arresting officer (a state trooper) stopped in at his apartment to see how he was doing. The trooper lived in town, and wanted to make sure that Tim was OK. The trooper retired from the state police and ran for county sheriff. One of the best sheriffs we have ever had. These officers work alone - they are tough as they need to be, and as reasonable and diplomatic as they need to be.
 
  • #99
russ_watters said:
... Here, he has no such out: this time, it is his own words that will be on the Republican commercials.
I'd be inclined to agree but Obama has some of the same 'teflon' qualities that Reagan had.
 
  • #100
turbo-1 said:
I see your point, Astro, though I would have been really upset at being accosted in my own home, too.
Stop making things up. He wasn't accosted. They went up to his front door and asked him for an ID because there had been a report of a break in. Where on Earth do you get "being accosted" out of that? He was the one that verbally accosted the police. Anyone with any amount of common sense would have simply given proper ID to the police, realizing that they are doing this to protect him in the event someone had indeed broken into his house. They would have to ask any person for their ID in this circumstance.

I feel Obama should make an apology for making a stupid inflammatory remark. I think that before this is all over, Obama will have to, he was out of line. What happened to "I can't comment since I don't know what happened"?
 
  • #101
What happened to "I can't comment since I don't know what happened"?

It would make him look like a fool when he discusses the harsh treatment of rioting Uighurs by the Chinese authorities.
 
  • #102
Count Iblis said:
It would make him look like a fool when he discusses the harsh treatment of rioting Uighurs by the Chinese authorities.

Perhaps a better way to say it is:

"I can't comment since I don't know what happened yet"

Would that change your argument, Count?

EDIT -- The president should have held off commenting officially until he read the police report, IMO.
 
  • #104
Apparently Obama just apologized. I wish to apologize myself. If anyone is offended by anything I said, it was certainly not my intention.
 
  • #105
The quality of these varies, but this ireport from CNN is really good: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-303137
 

Similar threads

News Mike Pence Accused of Voter Suppression in Indiana Raid
Replies
5
Views
2K
News Russian opposition leader, a Putin critic shot dead
2
Replies
39
Views
4K
News Will past personal issues affect Obama's 2012 campaign?
19
Replies
643
Views
68K
News Obama quits Chicago church after long controversy
3
Replies
93
Views
11K
News Why Did London Police Blow Up a Tourist's Car and Issue a Parking Ticket?
Replies
15
Views
4K
News Obama Misspeaks on Egypt Relationship Or does he ?
2
Replies
55
Views
7K
News Is Recording Police Interactions a Felony?
4
Replies
116
Views
20K
News Obama compromises with the GOP for extending the tax cuts
2
Replies
41
Views
6K
News Election spurs 'hundreds' of race threats, crimes
Replies
34
Views
4K
News The Obama Administration is Violating the Law
Replies
4
Views
2K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top