Was Dr. Henry Louis Gates,Jr Racially Profiled?!

Agreed. An incident from my own life; I have worked very hard and as a result I live in a very nice neighborhood. A couple of years ago my across the street neighbor who I have gotten to know well over the years, was going through a nasty divorce, I was working from home on a Monday when the police knocked on my door. It seems there was an attempted violent, armed, kidnapping of my across the street neighbor, and as everyone in the neighborhood knows that I walk my dogs every morning, the cops came to my door "under the pretense" of asking if I saw anything suspicious that morning while walking. I said no and inquired if my neighbor was alright. Then the cop, began INTERROGATING me right on my doorstep, asking my name, if I lived there, when I said yes, he clearly did not believe me, then he asked whether I rented or owned, and finally, what was my SSN. Even though I was boiling mad, I remained cool and answered all of his questions. I then asked if there was a description of the assailant, and the cops eyes got big and said "no, why do you ask?" I finally had enough and said, " look I am a lawyer (gave him one of my business cards) and I know why you are asking me these questions, I have made a mental note of your name and badge number". The cop immediatley backed off and thanked me for my cooperation. I watched him go to his squad car and run my information through his computer. There were at least 5 cop cars on our street, so I strolled over to my neighbor who was outside talking to the cops (including the one that came to my door) and gave him a big hug and began chatting.

Turns out, the attempted kidnapper was a White guy, hired by the soon to be ex-wife. The point I am making is that in that cops eyes, I was guilty because I was Black and living in a nice neighborhood, so clearly I must be involved with criminal activity. I very much understand what Professor Gates went through.

 

well sense we all know cops lie all the time in statements (and we also know that a mild-mannered doctor is in no way, shape, or form capable of disorderly conduct), there is no issue.

 

I never claimed that every single officer on the job is crooked. My point was that police reports can be wildly inaccurate at times (either due to the personal predilections or intentional prevarication of the author) and that cops will cover for a fellow officers if a mistake is made.

Again, I made no such claim about the impossibility of a dignified academic to losing his temper while dealing with the police. I only relayed my opinion that is it highly unlikely that Dr. Gates presented made a big enough spectacle of himself or presented a threat to police that necessitated his arrest especially considering his current state of infirmity.

 

so we're all in agreement that is was possible, in the realm of possibility (not of expectations), that the good Doctor did conduct himself in a manner which got himself arrested (regardless of how many times he flaunted his Ivy league acceptance badge), justified by statements given by the officers.

I just wanted to make sure that this viewpoint was not overlooked, by personal emotion and Al 'Here he goes again' Sharpton.

I love playing devil's advocate.

 

It is hard to trust what the police says nowadays. Those white officers shoot their Black brother officers which is sad.

 

Question : Why did the officer enter Gates home ? They were not in HOT PURSUIT , so why did they do that ? Was that legal ?

Question : Why didn't the officers leave immediately after Gates identified himself ?

 

You are getting to the crux of the issue here. From what has been reported so far, the officer "could" argue he had probable cause to enter the house, given that he was investigating an alleged burglary and professor Gates and the driver fit the description of the suspects, or he could argue that he had tacit approval from Gates when Gates did not stop him from entering when he went to get his wallet and id after speaking at the door.

The officer's legal trouble will most likely stem from the fact that he did not leave after id was produced and I assume verified, and the fact that an arrest was made after id was produced and verified. This is exactly why the cops initially stated that professor Gates was loud and belligerent, they are trying to conjure up some rationale for their actions. If professor Gates was NOT loud or belligerent, and can prove it, (the article I read said that the Harvard real estate maintenance was called and present to fix the door when the cops showed up) then he has one WHOPPER of a civil case against the police department.

 

Thanks for the response , Loki .

 

"Gates said he turned over his driver's license and Harvard ID - both with his photos - and repeatedly asked for the name and badge number of the officer, who refused. He said he then followed the officer as he left his house onto his front porch, where he was handcuffed in front of other officers, Gates said in a statement released by his attorney, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, on a Web site Gates oversees, TheRoot.com"

The officer(s) didn't leave, because Gates accelerated the situation by repeatedly asking for the guy's badge number (which according to resident law-enforcement amanda, is not mandatory to produce).

 

he can ask all he want..doesnt mean he'll get it..

to pursue police officers (after they already told u no) because you just have to have their badge numbers, is asking for trouble

doesn't matter if this guy works at harvard or not; walking with one eye, a purple dog, and a cane.

you have to respect law enforcement...they will put your ass down

late edit - CBQ..don't delete your posts

 

It depends on how he was asking, if he was respectful and calm in his repeated requests, that would not rise to the standards of proof needed to show that he was belligerent, and it still does not address the question as to why the cops entered to begin with. The fact that the charges were dropped so quickly tells me the cops are back-peddling very fast on this one.

 

I feel for the guy. I had the cops kick in my door and almost shoot my dogs. Know why the kicked in my door? Because my garage door jammed and was skewed in its track about a foot from the ground. A sales person was trying to call me and I wouldnt pick up the phone (I was sick with the flu, which is why I didnt fight my garage door). They then proceeded to drag me outside in my pajamas and had me standing in my drive way for about an hour.

I do NOT feel safe knowin the police can and do over react. I am lucky they didnt shoot me or my dogs.

Oh, and they lied on the police report and said they heard moaning coming from my home when they were looking around and that gave them the legal right to kick my door off its hinges.

 

That is so wrong, did you make a complaint?

 

This case resonates with so many people , I bet President Obama will be asked about it during his press conference tomorrow night . Some reporter will raise their hand and ask about the dynamics of this case and what are the broader issues here .


:smt039

 

Yeap and I tried to keep pushing for them to investigate, but the guys superior officer didnt want to.

I had filed a complaint earlier about this officer, which is why he was harassing me. The day the incident happened, he was the filling in for the superior officer and he made the decision to kick in my door.

He started harassing me when I attended some rallys for reparations from the Tulsa race riot of 1921. He saw my Jeep in the driveway that day, he knew I was home.

 

Hmmm, that's what the police would say. Ask Amadou Diallo and Abner Louima about that.

 

This whole thing is so wrong in so many level, Geez is it 2009 or 1609?
BO is a Harvard Law School grad and Gates has been working on that campus since '91, so who knows they problly know each other on a personal level and might discuss about the situation one and one.

 

This is the way of keeping the uppity negro in his place. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded and should check themselves.

 

Wow.:smt042

 

momma always told me not to mouth off at cops and cause a confrontation