Harvard’s Henry Louis Gates Jr. Arrested For Being “A Black Man in America”
Every one of us would have been just as outraged. The charges had better go should have gone away fast. With an apology. Instead, Gates is being represented by Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, who has taken on previous cases with racial implications.
Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation’s pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling.
Police arrived at Gates’s Ware Street home near Harvard Square at 12:44 p.m. to question him. Gates, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, had trouble unlocking his door after it became jammed.
He was booked for disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to a police report. Gates accused the investigating officer of being a racist and told him he had “no idea who he was messing with,” the report said.
Gates told the officer that he was being targeted because “I’m a black man in America.” [To read a copy of the police report, click here]
Friends of Gates said he was already in his home when police arrived. He showed his driver’s license and Harvard identification card, but was handcuffed and taken into police custody for several hours last Thursday, they said.
Emphasis mine.
Via The Chronicle.
UPDATE: added by Dr. E., Assistant Editor, TMV: The arresting officers’ police reports in full.
54 Responses to “Harvard’s Henry Louis Gates Jr. Arrested For Being “A Black Man in America””
The news and the people took this too far. first of all I would expect the cops to be called if anyone seems like thier about to kick a door in. No matter if your the pope or mother tarresa. Once mr Gates has proven that it's his house, then the cops should have left the area, and mr Gates should have thanked them for keeping the hood safe. However if mr gates decided to use his Black vito card and asked the officer his name and badge #, then the officer should have presented that since that is our citizen rights to ask for that. So i would have said both parties mr.Gates and the officer need good slap in the face to keep thier sh*ti anger under control…….
But hey that's my opinion.
Gates never showed his Drivers License for proof of residency, only his Harvard ID card. While officers were trying to figure out the situation and make sure he was SUPPOSED to be there, Gates berated the officers and calling them racists. When a person becomes aggressive, either physically or verbally, officers are trained to defuse the situation with restraint for the persons safety and theirs. This is very common.
BTW. The Officer Crowley is a decorated officer, teaches anti-profiling classes for the police dept hand chosen by a black superior officer to do so, tried to revive a black athlete (Reggie Lewis)
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/…
The police dept is backing him completely. Maybe its time for blacks and other minorities to follow the rules when confronted with questions from a police officer? You want to stop racism? Look deeper into your own world and stop the stereotypes yourself. If I knew I was such a target for the Police, and knowing that black people are blamed for 60% of the crime in america, why would I continue to act like an uneducated thug, carry weapons, carry drugs? Stop the cycle yourself. White people are not really the problem anymore.
Afrofresh-
When an investigation is going on, and police are trying to control the situation, they are not required to give any information until the situation is under control. Lets all try to keep with the facts in this case.
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