.Did you even bother to read what Gates (a citizen home owner arrested in his own home) said? He says that he presented a photo ID proving it was his own home but was arrested anyway! It is quite revealing that the police report was taken down, isn't it? It is amazing that folks here are so ready to automatically take the word of government official over a homeowner arrested in his OWN HOME! Believe it or not, cops lie sometimes and citizens tell the truth.
Yes, police sometimes lie. But not normally.
I think the following article gives us a pretty good picture of what happened. It basically states that Gates was uncooperative with the police, displayed an attitude, followed the officer outside as the officer was leaving, etc.
I’m sorry, but if you display that kind of attitude toward the police, you’re GOING to get arrested. I don’t care WHAT color you are.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32010985/ns/us_news-race_and_ethnicity/?GT1=43001
Note I’m not saying things were necessarily handled properly on the police side. Gates claims to have asked for the officer’s name and badge number and that that request was refused.
But I don’t see any dispute of Gates’ actual behavior. And you don’t act like Gates did unless you want to be arrested.
Well, the charges have been dropped. But,,,
“Last week, a witness, 40-year-old Lucia Whalen of Malden, had alerted the cops that a man was wedging his shoulder into the front door at Gates’ house as to pry the door open, police reported.
A law enforcement source said Gates apparently had locked himself out. When Sgt. James Crowley arrived, he said Gates already was inside. But when he was asked to provide identification, Gates allegedly snapped, “No, I will not,” according to a police report.
Police said Gates’ front-porch tirade about racism alarmed passers-by drawn to the uproar outside his Cambridge home.
As Crowley tried to question him, police said Gates bellowed, “This is what happens to black men in America!”
Crowley claimed in his report he tried to calm Gates, but wrote that Gates shouted, “You don’t know who your (sic) messing with!”
After calling Crowley a racist, according to police reports, the professor was charged with disorderly conduct and released for a $40 fee.”