Posted by Cosmic:

Posted by martin:

Posted by sebstar:


The plot thickens...Crowley might have lied. Racial profiling expert, my ass


http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/27/gates.arrest/index.html

(CNN) -- The woman who made the 911 call that led to the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. never referred to race when she contacted authorities for what she thought was a potential break-in, her attorney told CNN on Monday.
Attorney Wendy Murphy also categorically rejected part of the police report that said her client, Lucia Whalen, talked with Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer, at the scene.

"Let me be clear: She never had a conversation with Sgt. Crowley at the scene," Murphy said. "And she never said to any police officer or to anybody 'two black men.' She never used the word 'black.' Period."

She added, "I'm not sure what the police explanation will be. Frankly, I don't care. Her only goal is to make it clear she never described them as black. She never saw their race. ... All she reported was behavior, not skin color."

Calls to the Cambridge Police Department about the issue have not been returned. In the police report, filed by Crowley, he says he spoke with Whalen outside the home before he approached Gates' house.

"She went on to tell me that she observed what appeared to be two black males with backpacks on the porch of Ware Street," the report says. "She told me that her suspicions were aroused when she observed one of the men wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."

Murphy's comments add yet another layer of intrigue to the July 16 arrest that has prompted heated discussion across the nation on race relations in America.

Murphy also disputed accounts of her client as a white woman in the traditional sense. "The fact is she's olive-skinned and of Portuguese descent. You wouldn't look at her and say necessarily, 'Oh, there's a white woman.' You might think she was Hispanic," Murphy said

wow, what's this world turning into when the woman who called in the 911 report has to retain a lawyer?

When it becomes literally international news and a witch hunt against the police born on media fabricated racial overtones you better believe she had to. She's probably in some moron's cross hairs as we speak.

Posted by awe1028:

Finally, some have suggested that Mr. Gates should expected to be arrested once he followed the cop asking for the ID. Again, wrong.

Posted by TheGame:

Posted by fishmike:

Posted by TheGame:

Posted by izybx:

Posted by TheGame:

This is from an article on CNN:

The issue of whether or not Gates — first in his home and later on his front porch — was in a public place has sparked plenty of debate, including in the blogosphere. Crowley's account of the incident included the detail that "at least seven" passers-by had stopped to rubberneck. Sam Goldberg, author of Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, thinks the report includes that detail in order to bolster the case that this altercation was playing out publicly. "It's as if he was saying, 'Look, he was really causing a disturbance,'" says Goldberg, a criminal defense attorney at the Cambridge-based firm of Altman & Altman.

Jon Shane, who spent 17 years as a police officer in hardscrabble Newark, N.J., said that had he been the cop called to Gates' house, he would have left Gates and his huffy comments alone once he was sure Gates was the homeowner. He admits he may well have been offended by the professor's alleged bluster, but that's just part of the job, so much so that there's a term in police vernacular devoted to situations like this: contempt of cop.

"In contempt of court, you get loud and abusive in a courtroom, and it's against the law," says Shane, now a professor of criminal justice at John Jay who specializes in police policy and practice. "With contempt of cop, you get loud and nasty and show scorn for a law enforcement officer, but a police officer can't go out and lock you up for disorderly conduct because you were disrespectful toward them." The First Amendment allows you to say pretty much anything to the police. "You could tell them to go f--k themselves," says Shane, "and that's fine."
____

This sums up my point. No police officer should arrest someone for voicing their opinion unless it rises to the point of interfering with the officer doing his job. There is no question these officers knew that Gates lived there and as this officer said, once they determined that, they should have taken their butt on.

Beautiful. You guys want to argue about whether this guy crossed the gray line and locked up a guy for discon then go ahead. Its actually a worthy debate. But what I like about this post is there is no nonsense about how this only happened because the guy is black.

I don't think the initial situation happened because Gates was black. But the decision to arrest him was certainly influenced by the fact he was black. No way those cops arrest Gates if he was a white man who took offense to them being there once they determined it was his house. And, I absolutely will not excuse a police officer abusing their power by unnecessarily wasting all our tax payers dollars by arresting someone, when they know they have no valid basis to arrest them but rather are merely trying to get "payback" because the person was not as nice as the officers thinks he should have been. I guess I should be allowed to conduct a citizens arrest the next time an officer acts like an a-hole to me, because he is not treating me with the respect I think I deserve. If I tried to do that, I would really be arrested and probably charged with assaulting an officer. A police officer who does the same thing should be subjected to no less punishment. These cops should all be suspended for their actions to send a clear message that this type of unprofessional behavior will not be tolerated from the police.

really? because a white guy mouthing off at a cop, making threats and barking at him would NEVER get arrested right?

Here's a news flash fellas. You jaw at a cop long enough you going to get a free ride to the station. If he tells you pipe down I suggest you do it. you can threaten him and cry racism and militant nation or you can drop it walk away and get on with your life. Gates chose the first one.

Is it so hard to believe?

This pisses me off, and I will tell you why. I live in an area of NJ where racial profiling takes place. Its nasty and its a problem. Twice I got pulled over in one paticular town because my passenger was black. We played ball together and he didnt drive. I will spare you the specifics but it was typical profiling BS.

The problem is what Gates did takes attention away from the real problem. Gates comes off like an upitty harvard professor with an axe to grind. He's succeeded in helping people "tune out" accusations of racism in the future. His buddy Obama said the cop was a good man and cooler heads should have prevailed.

If your going to publicly bark racism at someone you better be damn sure your right because thats a nasty thing to say to someone if its not true.

Who said anything about "barking racism" Even the women who called in the 911 call is disputing part of what the officer said (he says he spoke with her and she is now saying that never happened) so I give him zero credibility. Moreover, so what, if Gates said you are a racist cop or you are doing this because I am black. That is his damn opinion. What authority does a cop have to arrest someone from stating an opinion when that comment does not interfere with an investigation, which is the crux of the matter that you seem to keep ignoring. These cops had already determined that this was Gates' house. Thus, they knew there had been no crime, or if there had been one, Gates was not the one who did it. Thus, they had no reason to still be on his property, let alone arrest him. And, no I don't care what I say to a cop, unless I am interfering with an investigation, that cop has no right to arrest me period, especially not out of my own damn house. And if you think they would have done that at all, or as quickly, to a white 58 year old, well-dressed man in that neighborhood, you, as LB put it, are "delusional."

[Edited by - thegame on 27-07-2009 15:44]

No shes is not disputing anything. Her LAWYER is disputing that she MENTIONED RACE. Obvious liability issue if gates sues.

Posted by martin:

Posted by sebstar:

And again, for all you cats that want to twist facts...her lawyer isnt spinning anything. She did not mention race. I heard the 911 tape. They asked her what race the gentlemen were and she said she couldnt tell and that if she were to guess they might have been Mexican.

Crowley's lying about that. Thats a fact.

right, but isn't there one more gap? The message passed from 911 people to the police?

Posted by sebstar:

Posted by martin:

Posted by sebstar:

And again, for all you cats that want to twist facts...her lawyer isnt spinning anything. She did not mention race. I heard the 911 tape. They asked her what race the gentlemen were and she said she couldnt tell and that if she were to guess they might have been Mexican.

Crowley's lying about that. Thats a fact.

right, but isn't there one more gap? The message passed from 911 people to the police?

now what sounds more plausible, the 911 dispatchers completely making up the fact that the suspects were two black males (why on earth would they do that?), or the cop making it up to save his own ass?

Posted by fishmike:
the ID thing was the root of the problem. The cops HAVE to ID him. They have to. If he's Jesus Christ they have to ID him. Its protocol. If they get a B&E call they have to ID the guy in the house. Gates refused and got hot. Eventually he did, but after getting hot (he admitted all this.)

THEN

He asked the cop for his badge and name. Gates says the cop ignored him and walked away. Here is where the stories dont mix but I say it doesnt matter. If the cop said or did something that got under Gate's skin he should have called the station and asked for the cops ID and made a complaint.

Instead

He lost his cool. He yelled. He screamed. He called the cops racist. He threatened them with the whole "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!??!?" mantra. Cops told him to calm down. He didnt. Pop... arrested for disturbing police. These are all confirmed facts and not up for debate.

Cops, good or bad are human. Some have short fuses and others long. Eventually there is a popping point and Gates clearly pushed this guy to his. He doesnt strike me as a guy with a lot of street smarts.