Harvard Professor Arrested At Home

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Harvard Professor Arrested At Home
161
Tue, 07-21-2009 - 10:28am

Police Report Says Henry Gates Called Officers Racist


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072001358.html?nav=hcmodule


Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's most prominent African American scholars, was arrested last week at his home near Harvard University after trying to force open the locked front door.


According to a report by the police department in Cambridge, Mass., Gates accused police officers at the scene of being racist and said repeatedly, "This is what happens to black men in America." The incident was first reported by the Harvard Crimson.


Gates, the director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Studies, has been away from his home much of the summer while working on a documentary called "Faces of America," said Charles Ogletree, a Harvard law professor and friend of Gates who is working as his lawyer. Gates returned from China last week and had trouble opening the front door with his key.


Gates, 58, was arrested Thursday by police looking into a possible break-in for disorderly conduct "after exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior" at his home, according to the police report. Officers said they tried to calm down Gates, who responded, "You don't know who you're messing with," according to the police report.


Ogletree said Gates was ordered to step out of his home. He refused and was followed inside by a police officer. After showing the officer his driver's license, which includes his address, Ogletree said Gates asked: "Why are you doing this? Is it because I'm a black man and you're a white officer? I don't understand why you don't believe this is my house." Ogletree said Gates was then arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and racial harassment.


Gates did not return calls to his office Monday, and the police department would provide no further details on the arrest. He was released four hours later, and arraignment has been scheduled for Aug. 26, but Ogletree said they hope to resolve the case sooner.


Gates is resting on Martha's Vineyard, according to Ogletree, and will soon resume traveling. He is scheduled to interview cellist Yo-Yo Ma, whose genealogy he was researching in China.


Gates, is a founder of the Root (http://www.theroot.com), a Web site owned by The Washington Post Co. He is also host and co-producer of "African American Lives," a Public Broadcasting Service show in which he uses genealogical resources and DNA testing to trace the family lineages of prominent black Americans. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1981 and was among Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Americans" in 1997.


Gates's arrest points to broader racial disparities in the criminal justice system, said Ryan S. King, a policy analyst at the Sentencing Project, a think tank that researches incarceration rates.


"If you look at every stage of the criminal justice system from initial police contact all the way through sentencing and incarceration, you see that African Americans are disproportionately impacted by each stage," King said. "What we ultimately see as disparate incarceration rates are contributed to by all of these factors."


As news of the arrest spread Monday from Harvard into broader academic circles, one professor who follows Gates's work said the arrest was both "not surprising" and "disheartening."


"I felt bad that I would hear about something like this happening, especially to someone as recognizable and distinguished as , but in the academy we still sometimes encounter that. I've been in situations where I encounter people who don't believe I'm a college professor," said Jelani Cobb, an associate professor of history at Spelman College in Atlanta. "We have obvious signs of progress, but we're not there."

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-03-2009
Mon, 07-27-2009 - 11:46pm

You might get a charge (pun intended) out of this:
"A Taser stun gun, capable of shocking three people without being reloaded, was unveiled Monday in front of hundreds of law enforcement officers who applauded after watching rounds of barbed wire fired at metal targets.
The demonstration at the Scottsdale-based company's annual conference was performed by Taser International Chairman Tom Smith, and his brother, CEO Rick Smith, who says the device will become the new standard for police officers who want greater tactical abilities.
The device is the first new stun gun Taser International has introduced since 2003.
Older Taser stun guns, in use by 14,200 law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, have to be reloaded after one shot, which can be a problem for an officer who has missed a target or has more than one suspect to subdue."
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/20191112/detail.html

At least as of March 2007, the Cambridge police force didn't have tasers:
http://blogs.townonline.com/cambridge/2007/03/13/tasers-in-our-city/

If Gates had been tasered, one's mind boggles at the possible increase in rhetoric and rancor!

Jabberwocka

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Tue, 07-28-2009 - 12:36am

Yippee!


Now they can zap 3 of us at a time!

Community Leader
Registered: 04-05-2002
Tue, 07-28-2009 - 8:02am

Actually, the "wouldn't feel similarly" sentiment was in reference to the blasé attitude of Britons towards the CCTV's (which are fixed position) in public places.


Thanks for clarifying. I misunderstood. I just visited the Spy Museum in DC and there was a section about areas spys have to avoid, like ATM machines, many stores, etc. because there are cameras there.






iVillage Member
Registered: 03-03-2009
Tue, 07-28-2009 - 9:26am

If you've ever given a surreptitious tug to your underwear, or sneezed unexpectedly (and messily!), or something else of potentially embarrassing nature, in a public but empty place, then you know why I am less than thrilled at the idea of being captured on cam. Those CCTV's are ALL OVER the place in London. The police also use the CCTV's to record license plate numbers in more congested parts of the city--only owners who have paid extra for the privilege can drive in certain areas. All other drivers who "trespass" get ticketed by mail. Same deal in Stockholm. IMHO, this is Big Brother stuff, not just crime prevention.

There have been episodes where police were on camera, knew it at one level and still behaved brutally. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/20/alabama.police.beating/index.html That adrenaline and testosterone mix can be potent enough to suspend good judgment or common sense.

At least, if thuggish behavior is caught in the act, and identities known, disciplinary actions can be taken. And I want to go on record as avoiding simplistic characterizations about police personnel. They're not always saints and they're not always "pigs". As with ANY group of individuals, there are some good uns and some bad uns. Anybody who thinks otherwise is indulging in stereotyping.

Jabberwocka

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2007
Tue, 07-28-2009 - 9:36am

I doubt many, if not any, men will argue the point that if it were 2 women, regardless of color, instead of 2 men, the outcome would have been entirely different.


Typically men pose more of a threat to a police officer than women do, hence the disparity in how they're treated.


It must be great being a woman....lol. Enjoy!

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Tue, 07-28-2009 - 9:43am

They're not always saints and they're not always "pigs". As with ANY group of individuals, there are some good uns and some bad uns. Anybody who thinks otherwise is indulging in stereotyping.


I believe some are better than others, but I wholeheartedly believe that each and every one would violate the civil rights of a suspect if they felt justified.


zz

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-03-2009
Tue, 07-28-2009 - 10:52am

Goodness, I hope you're wrong! After all, police are supposed to enforce the law, not violate our civil rights willy-nilly. Sounds like perhaps Texas law enforcement officers aren't getting the message?

If you don't mind my saying, sounds like y'all are a bit trigger-happy, what with the castle "doctrine", taser tagging, and general Wild West mentality. As time goes by and the demographics change, so too is there need for re-evaluation about what works and what doesn't (which is another reason why I interpret the Second Amendment far more narrowly than do gun-rights activists).

As to "justification" for overriding civil rights, most police personnel get training. That training had better include specifics on civil rights so they have full understanding that their personal beliefs do not trump the requirements of the law.

Just as soldiers are trained and disciplined to obey orders for the express purpose of achieving the mission with minimum loss of life, so too police ought to see their mission as enforcing the law with minimum loss of civil liberties.

Our legal system is predicated on the belief that one is innocent until proved guilty.

Jabberwocka

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Tue, 07-28-2009 - 12:06pm

I'm saying this as meant in the kindest way possible.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Tue, 07-28-2009 - 3:12pm

911 Tape Raises Questions in Gates Case


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/us/28gates.html?ref=us


The woman who called 911 to report a possible breaking and entering at the home of Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. told the dispatcher that she had “no idea” if the two men she saw were breaking in and said that, in fact, they might live there.


A recording of the call, released on Monday by the Cambridge Police Department, raised new questions about the case, which ended in the arrest on July 16 of Professor Gates, a prominent Harvard scholar, on a disorderly conduct charge. The charge was later dropped.


The caller, Lucia Whalen, told the dispatcher she was calling on behalf of an older woman who lived on the street and had seen the men — who turned out to be Professor Gates and his cabdriver — forcing their way into the home. Police officials have said the older woman had just moved into the neighborhood. Ms. Whalen, 40, works on the block.


“They kind of had to barge in, and they broke the screen door and they finally got in,” Ms. Whalen said on the recording, adding that she had also seen two suitcases on the porch.


She later said, “I don’t know if they live there and just had a hard time with their key.”


At one point, the dispatcher asked if she thought the men were breaking into the house.


“I don’t know,” Ms. Whalen said, “because I have no idea.”


The dispatcher asked Ms. Whalen whether the two men were black, white or Hispanic. “There were two larger men,” she said. “One looked kind of Hispanic, but I’m not really sure.” As for the second man, she said, “I didn’t see what he looked like at all,” according to the tape.


Ms. Whalen, who called on her cellphone from in front of the professor’s home, stayed until the police arrived. A report filed by the arresting officer, Sgt. James M. Crowley, said she told him she had seen “what appeared to be two black males with backpacks” on the porch of the home.


Police officials have stood by the report in interviews, but on Monday, Ms. Whalen’s lawyer said she had never mentioned race to Sergeant Crowley.


“She didn’t speak to Sergeant Crowley at the scene except to say, ‘I’m the one who called,

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-03-2009
Tue, 07-28-2009 - 3:16pm

Sounds like you had a rough experience. And honestly, nothing like it has ever happened to me. So, in that regard, perhaps I am naive.

But there are ideals on which this nation was founded. I take them very very seriously. When we become accustomed to abuse of power by those in power, whether politicians or police, and don't demand accountability or change, then we dig the pit of our own metaphorical burial.

If there are law enforcement officers who are acting like two ton gorillas in Texas, California, Florida, Oklahoma or New York City, then it's time (and past) for citizens of those areas to demand change and ousting of officials and personnel; particularly of "jaded" types who don't abide by democratic principals anymore. Not by anarchy, not through incendiary posturing, but by presenting factual evidence unencumbered by emotional rhetoric, mobilizing other citizens, getting calls and letters to elected representatives, and not giving up until change has been effected. That's how a representative democracy is supposed to work.

Key word there-- "work". Apathy won't result in changes and neither will diffuse anger. Logic, persistence, courage....and work.

Jabberwocka

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