The Officer was responding to a call that a B & E was in progress. Gates’ house, as well as seven others in the neighborhood had been broken into in the last two weeks. When the police arrive at the scene and find a broken door and you inside, there is no reason for them to assume it’s your home. By the way. The house is owned by Harvard and is tax exempt. So they don’t pay for the police protection that Sgt. Crowley etal provide them.
You seem to know a lot about what happened! I'm not really sure how broken the door was. I read the police report and I don't remember anything about the policeman observing a broken door. I guess he just forgot. He just says the door was open and he observed an "older black male." Hmmm. I wonder if the "older black male" was doing anything suspicious. Gee. It doesn't say. Maybe this cop can't distinguish? No. Maybe he's unaware that "older black males" aren't a particular unlawful lot? Or would that be profiling? He just asks Gates to step outside. He couldn't ask Gates if there was any trouble here? And maybe let him know why he was at the door? I probably wouldn't respond with the "Yo mama" stuff (Is that ebonic for FU?) but I probably would say, "If you have anything to say to me you can say it from there or come in if you like." I'm not suggesting that I think Gates acted like a Gentleman. He probably didn't. But he was in his own house doing nothing wrong. The cop was acting on bad information. Maybe that never occurred to him?
ML/NJ