My bike was stolen when I was a kid....by a white kid. Once you go black, you never go back. That's what I hear anyway I wouldn't be pissed. I would understand that someone witnessed me breaking into a house and called the police. Seems reasonable. Confirm that I live here and move on. The good professor chose a different route and ran into a cop who should have let it go but didn't. If you're going to act like an ass, you have to deal with the potential consequences.
fair enough. i would have been pretty mad though, but then again i have had nothing but bad experiences with police when i was younger, had long hair and rode a skateboard all over town, since i have gotten older i have only had 1 bad experience with police and it was in Bedford Tx.
The worst part of all of this is that our beloved (sic) president decided to play race pimp and drag this isolated incident all over the (inter)national news. Apparently Prof. Gates is a close friend of Mr. Pres. and therefore, he decided to drop a few cents in. Now, people all over the world have one more thing to laugh at our Pres and the USA about. That was a "Joe Biden" if ever there was one.
I just gotta weigh in on this one. First off, for anyone saying that an older person is uncapable of any kind of trouble: 76-year-old grandmother robs bank to help troubled son Redding Record Searchlight Ya never know... I saw this guy on CNN (Gates) before Obama made any comments on it at all. At that point, I hadn't heard exactly all of the details and thought the cops probably went overboard. However, Gates appeared to me to be a somewhat-cocky, world-against-me type of person. He made it racial from the start, which I don't think it was AT ALL (it was made racial by him only). He has said that the officer should "beg for his forgiveness" and on CNN said that if he believed him, he'd be willing to forgive him. Really? This guy is acting like he was imprisoned for 40 years. If you read the police report, it seems pretty sensible. Crowley claims that he saw Gates in the foyer when he arrived and he was led to believe that Gates was lawfully in the residence. Yet, he was surprised by the behavior that Gates was exhibiting toward him when just trying to verify his information. I haven't seen Gates come out and deny anything that was specifically reported. So until then... Gates lawyer admitted that he used strong language and the other officers confirmed that he kept saying , "This is what happens to black men in America" and "You don't know who you're messing with." To me, Gates was basically threatening the cop by saying that because according to the report, he continued to accuse him of racial bias while he was walking away outside and claimed that it wasn't the last he'd hear of him (and that was before he was ever arrested). He was provoking the cop and was being disorderly. The cop warned him TWICE and pulled out the handcuffs and the guy still kept going. It's like he wanted to be arrested and make a big story out of nothing. Congrats! He succeeded. By the way, the cop says in the report that he asked Gates if he wanted a cop to take the key and secure his front door after arresting him because he had left it open. Then Gates says it's not securable because of a previous break-in attempt??? Seriously? I wonder if this is accurate. How could this guy be mad then at a cop for trying to make sure that nobody was breaking in the house? The guy was uncooperative from the beginning and basically seemed like he was looking for a problem. He claimed racism immediately and wouldn't identify himself at first. He's lucky he wasn't arrested faster if anything. The cop was trying to protect his a$$ (Gates) and Gates treated him like the villain. Personally, I may not have arrested him, but then again I'm not sure because I wasn't the one being berated and threatened while trying to do my job. All I can say is that according to the cop, he warned the guy more than once (while outside) and he wouldn't stop with the racist remarks in front of cops/citizens. For being a Harvard professor, the guy isn't too smart. He should have shut up and cooperated and everything would have went absolutely smooth. He should have been thankful that a cop showed up and was doing a good job. I agree that there is still a lot of BS that black people have to put up with and areas where they do have more than warranted gripes, but this case is not one of them. This was a cranky, seemingly racist man himself. As for Obama, he should have said, "No comment." He said to start off that he was biased because the guy is a friend and that he didn't know all the facts. Well, then shouldn't you decline to comment at the moment right then and there. It was apparent that he didn't know the facts about 10 seconds in when he said that reports said that Gates had forgotten his keys and tried to jimmy his way in... Gates had his keys, but the lock wouldn't seem to turn. And if the cops acted "stupidly", then this guy acted retarded. I see that Obama has backed off of that comment so that's a little better. It's an unfortunate situation which could have been avoided...but Gates was the biggest reason it turned into a situation. How does that song go..."I fought the law and the...the law won!"
gates' house had been broken in before thats why it didnt lock. the link to the report was in my very first post. so the neighbor knowing this, saw 2 dudes breaking in the front door and called the cops. obviously not racial profiliing as crowley was simply the first one on the scene. clearly gates should have stfu and simply showed his ID which he did not do. he showed his ID much later after berating the officer and talking down to him when respect should be given. the cop was doing his job. should he have let him go after all that garbage coming out this idiot's mouth? maybe but its his call and its likely deserved. next time, you can bet there will be a lot slower response if that house gets broken in. a harvard degree must not be what it once was. this dudes a clown and was treated as one. personally it would have been nice to tase this dude for being such a prick when someones trying to help him.
Yeah, I read that in your link before I posted. It baffled me. I was just wondering if the officer understood him correctly because the media hasn't said much about it. It's an even bigger reason he should have been thankful for a quick response. He should really be thankful that you weren't the cop. Tasing the dude...that's funny. Then he would have had a real gripe. Oh, and for anyone wondering, Gates doesn't own the house. It belongs to Harvard.
I think we need to be focusing on the fact that a highly respected, tenured professor from Harvard when asked to come outside to talk actually said "I'll talk to your mama outside." I mean think about this. I was pulling off jokes like this when I was eight. It makes me laugh every time I think about it. I dare you to find something funnier than that.
bs. u know u told the only black dude u were ignoring him. a taser and pepper spray makes for good comedy on belligerent people. although i noticed its not too effective on crackheads or coke addicts so you have to pick your spots and be sure it doesnt just piss them off more if you decide to use it. yes, harvard security showed up after he called them. cops asked if he was ok leaving his house unsecured with that harvard dude in the house as they left. he just left the door wide open.
