Posted on 08/01/2009 3:44:39 AM PDT by reaganaut1
No more than five or six minutes elapsed from the time the police were alerted to the possibility of a break-in at a home in a quiet residential neighborhood and the awful clamping of handcuffs on the wrists of the distinguished Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
If Professor Gates ranted and raved at the cop who entered his home uninvited with a badge, a gun and an attitude, he didn’t rant and rave for long. The 911 call came in at about 12:45 on the afternoon of July 16 and, as The Times has reported, Mr. Gates was arrested, cuffed and about to be led off to jail by 12:51.
The charge: angry while black.
The president of the United States has suggested that we use this flare-up as a “teachable moment,” but so far exactly the wrong lessons are being drawn from it — especially for black people. The message that has gone out to the public is that powerful African-American leaders like Mr. Gates and President Obama will be very publicly slapped down for speaking up and speaking out about police misbehavior, and that the proper response if you think you are being unfairly targeted by the police because of your race is to chill.
I have nothing but contempt for that message.
Mr. Gates is a friend, and I was selected some months ago to receive an award from an institute that he runs at Harvard. I made no attempt to speak to him while researching this column.
The very first lesson that should be drawn from the encounter between Mr. Gates and the arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley, is that Professor Gates did absolutely nothing wrong.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It is arguable whether yelling at a cop should be cause for arrest. Gates could have stopped yelling when the policeman gave him his first warning, and then filed a complaint with the police department.
Barf. These things are ended quickly by the police because the longer people (of ANY color) are allowed to rant and rave, the more potential there is for violence. Would Gates rather be in jail for assaulting a police officer?
Aside from that, I still think Gates’ insane overreaction was all to prevent the police from asking more questions about his companion, that is, the man who was originally seen with him on the porch.
“The very first lesson that should be drawn from the encounter between Mr. Gates and the arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley, is that Professor Gates did absolutely nothing wrong.”
Liberal horse sh*t. Black, White, Yellow, Red, Pink, or Blue, you go ballistic on a cop and you’re very lucky if you’re not tasered, tossed down, and THEN handcuffed.
In a less chi-chi part of town, that’s EXACTLY what would have happened.
“(he) selected (me) to receive an ( piss ant, bolo ) award from...(him) at Harvard.”
“Woop-deee-doo”, Archie Bunker
Gates is a racist pure and simple, just like his “close friend”.
When Gates got pulled over in Virginia he was very beligerant with the cop. And there is now video of him using the same expression that he denies using when insulting the officer’s mother.
It is funny how there were three officers, one white, one black and one hispanic and a crowd of onlookers and nobody but Gates noticed “whitey” doing anything on.
“more will get arrested and jailed...”
I was always taught don’t argue with a cop. If they are wrong, it can be sorted out later. My scant experience with law officers is that most are honest and fair. I don’t know exactly what transpired, but if Prof. Gates had used a little courtesy and understanding, I bet the whole thing would have been over in 10 minutes and we would have never heard of the incident.-—JM
I don't think Freepers have taken a definitive position on this. There are many who support the police version of this for a variety of reasons. There are many who support Gates' position (although I haven't seen anybody support Gates himself as a person to this poing- just his rights). There have been quite a few entertaining threads on this issue with everybody speaking out one way or the other.
Freepers and conservatives have diverse and interesting opinions. Let the lefties think/emote what they will. They usually do anyway.
There are good cops and some cops who use improper judgement and over react. My experience is that most of them are just trying to do their job in what at times is a very difficult field.
Anyone who gives a cop a hard time without a real good reason, like the cop is trying to hurt him without any provocation should be shot on the spot.
Police officers are people, and people should not be abused without being able to silence the abuse. Verbal abuse is assault.
PS, the police officer who referred to gates as a jungle monkey was just using his right to free speech. And... if the shoe fits, wear it.
F. U. N. Y. T.
“the awful clamping of handcuffs on the wrists of the distinguished Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.”?
Horse crap.
Had not this distinguished Harvard professor not acted like a stupid dumbass this would not have amounted to anything other than a cop trying to do his job protecting this stupids property.
The n.y.times is garbage.
> The very first lesson that should be drawn from the encounter between Mr. Gates and the arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley, is that Professor Gates did absolutely nothing wrong.
If he did nothing wrong then why did he get arrested? The arresting officer is not a bunny, he wouldn’t have cuffed Gates and dragged him down to the station for no reason — that involves paperwork and cops hate paperwork...
Bob Herbert is a racist of the highest order who landed at the NY Slimes as an affirmative action hire. He’s got a chip on his shoulder the size of Mount McKinley and is known as a full time grievance whore who happens to have a part time gig as an awful journalist.
Thanks for painting with a very broad brush. You do us proud.
Professor Gates did absolutely nothing wrong?
Sgt. James Crowley did nothing wrong. He was doing the job that was mandated by law. The charges should have not been dropped, as Gates at the time was a ragging racist. IMO he was covering for something, or someone with his racism distraction.
By golly brand me a racist but I refuse to be around black people because things have gotten so out of hand, almost every word a person says to a black person could have a double meaning if they want to bring it up so I don’t bother going there.
I feel like I’m wearing a party hat with lit sparklers and they are wearing cloaks wrapped in dynamite.
Its a losing game with no solution, not even if you go to a special “class” about racial communication. And I think it mostly has to do with Americas black only has a black leader thats really not a true representative for them, in color its just a small margin, ethnically Obama is more Arab, his past though is hanging out with the Black Panthers and black communists, his subtle body language and mannerisms is being picked up on by Americas blacks and they are being led off into a fantasy trip that all whiteys must apologize to them and make right all wrongs.
I am not about to follow that idea even if it is true, its my view on the whole problem.
“Full time Grievance Whore”
Heh, heh!
You’ve added to my political vocabulary.
;^)
I agree. My limited experience with cops has been if you treat them with courtesy, they treat you with courtesy. When I am pulled, I always know who they are - they have no clue who I am. I have only encountered 1 cop in all my years who treated me rudely. Most have been courteous and professional - although I usually still got the ticket:)
No wonder the NYT is going down the tubes, publishing crap like this. May it hasten the trip.
I'm white and I can match Herbert and the other black crybabies anecdote for anecdote- WHAT IS THEIR EXPLAINATION FOR THAT?
Anyone “roaring” at cops as a matter of course is going to find themselves in cuffs. I'll bet that Sgt Crowley warned the “distinguished” Professor Gates at least three (3) times before the cuffs came out.
The only mistake the police made was in not prosecuting Gates.
The racist author of this stupid article probably thinks Tookie was innocent too.
Police officers are people, and people should not be abused without being able to silence the abuse. Verbal abuse is assault.
So... every case of "road rage" should end with one party shooting the other to "silence the abuse?"
Simply brilliant.
Looks like it's CYA time once again.
In this instance, I really don’t think the police overreacted, and if they did, it was minor, and provoked. Having said that, 98% of cops are NOT your friend.I was beat nearly to death by them back in 1975 for no reason. O f course I’m white, so no “racist” defense for me.I’ve posted the details of the incident here on FR before, and I’m too lazy this morning to do that much typing, just let it suffice to say that no charges of any kind were filed on me and I still have some scars from a beating that was for entertainment as far I could ever figure out, and there were three cops involved, and the beating didn’t start until my hands were cuffed behind my back.
Releasing the audio of Gate’s tirade would help a lot in determining whether or not Crowley overreacted. It’s hard to make a call when it’s not known exactly what Gates said and the demeanor in which he said it.
forget his skin color, he’s just of weak character...
The charge was having a hissiefit tantrum while stupid.
The black writers and other liberal raciests keep twisting this incident into what it was not. The taped version should be released to the public.
So when blacks commited some heinous rape or murder “back in the day” down South and were killed by an outraged public because of it-was that “righteous anger”, Bob?
As for NYC, I read that “gun crime” related arrests in the town were 98% black and Latino. In Los Angeles, the percentage of murders committed by non-Latino whites has been hovering at around 3%. In case the NY Times can’t afford calculators, Bob, I’ll do the math for you-that’s 97% of murders committed by nonwhites—the cops have to deal with these pieces of human excrement. Should they ignore that totally?
Clean up your own acts, and there won’t be as much to complain about—you have rights, but with them comes responsibilities.
Me thinks the police should be issued “billy clubs” and leather “slap jacks” with lead weights to be used to instill a little respect for the authority of the law.
Just administer a few slaps against the head and neck. It would have done wonders to “calm” professor Gates.
Just a thought.......
Professor Gates is black and liberal and therefore incapable of error. The cop was white and is therefore clearly guilty of racism. The Liberal mindset at its worst.
Yes, I posted in the heat of anger, so there were words in there for benefit of those who would abuse police. There is a lesson in this.
I retract my harsh words. Do you have any salt and pepper for me to eat with my words?
Your comments are far more intelligent than mine. It is just that as you were beaten, I have been very fortunate, and very well prepared for some instances, where I would probably have been beaten, shot, stabbed, or dead if I were not in some respects very well-prepared myself. Thinking back upon those instances makes me mad at times and so my words are occasionally hot under the collar. I retract the harsh words of shooting those who would abuse cops.
However, when people are abused, and forced to take that abuse, it harms them. That is not good.
All I will say is that I have never had to harm a person and am very glad that the attacks upon me have been stopped without having to harm the other person physically.
Send a Message to BOB HERBERT
http://www.nytimes.com/gst/emailus.html
oy.
Barf alert?
I stopped reading right there. The person is an idiot.
Sorry, Bob. Calling me a racist is just about the worst insult you can throw at me. (Child molester or wife beater is worse.)
You scream in my face that I’m a racist, and, since I’m not a cop, I’ll be willing to face the fourth-degree misdemeanor assault charge when I punch you in the head.
There is a Constitutional doctrine about “fighting words” (Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire, I believe) that would be protection, at least from severe consequences.
Don’t call me a racist. Ever.
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