Police Abuse: Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Arrested In His Own Home

Police Brutality: Red-faced Cambridge officials dropped what they called "regrettable" charges against Harvard's most prominent black scholar, who was arrested in his home last week by a cop looking for a burglar.
But Professor Henry Louis (Skip) Gates Jr. says that's not enough: he wants a direct apology from the police sergeant who arrested him.
"He should look into his soul and he should apologize to me," Gates told the Washington Post in an exclusive interview Tuesday.
"If so, I will be prepared to forgive him."
He also said he now plans to make a new PBS documentary about racial profiling in arrests.
The city of Cambridge issued a statement calling Gates' arrest on charges of disorderly conduct "regrettable and unfortunate."
Gates, 58, was handcuffed and hauled away Thursday afternoon after kicking up an angry fuss when Sgt. James Crowley entered his house and demanded proof he lived there.
The bizarre incident revived the Boston area's image as a hotbed of racial tension - something Cambridge officials were eager to reverse.
"This incident should not be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department," the city said.
"All parties agree that this is a just resolution to an unfortunate set of circumstances."
But Gates didn't appear ready to forgive and forget.
"There are one million black men in jail in this country and last Thursday I was one of them," he said.
"It's one thing to write about it - but altogether another to experience it."
His lawyer, famed Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, told the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show that just clearing Gates wasn't enough.
"We're not going to let it go with the dismissal of charges," Ogletree said.
"I can tell you this," he said, "you'll see some changes in Cambridge."
Gates had just returned from filming a PBS documentary in China and had trouble opening his jammed front door on stately Ware St. in Cambridge,
two blocks from the Harvard campus.
He asked his driver - a Morrocan immigrant - for help with the door, prompting Lucia Whalen, 40, who works next door at the offices of Harvard Magazine, to call police to report a possible break-in.
Responding to the call, Crowley reported he told Gates he was investigating a break-in and an angry Gates replied, "Why, because I am a black man in America?"
The police report Crowley filed does not note when he entered the house, but describes him leaving it as Gates accused him loudly of being a racist cop.
"My reason for wanting to leave the residence was that Gates was yelling very loud and the acoustics of the kitchen and foyer were making it difficult for me to transmit pertinent information" to a dispatcher, he wrote.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/07/20/2009-07-20_esteemed_harvard_profes...

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[danschaoticmind]

@YukonCornelius1776 Actually, yes he did:

/watch?v=B6dzNbHq3uA

You can clearly hear them reading off the ID card in the audio transcript.

[YukonCornelius1776]

You all know he refused to give the police his ID right?

.

If the police get a phone call that someone is breaking into a house, they go to that house, find the person breaking into the house (which is what Gates did, the door was jammed), and then the person refuses to show you any proof at all that they actually live at that house, then what the fuck do you expect them to do? If they walked away you would be saying they were incompetent and didn't do their job. go fuck yourselves.

[yayablu1970]

You should know it wasn't a black man trying to break in. I watch tv and all the alarm companies like ADT show that white males between 20-35 do all the break-ins!!!!!!!

[volcom13xx]

@desmondli007 or teach at harvard

[HealeyIRA5]

@AlmostDutchman Good. You may be safer in VA, but we're safer in MA.

[desmondli007]

Firstly, burglars never break in the front door during the day.

[outlawracer2229]

Cops never do anything wrong. Don't believe me? Just ask one they'll tell you.