First, the neighbor calls in saying that two black men were ramming the door with their shoulders to get in, presumably because it was locked.
Second, Gates says that it was he and his chauffer, because he had forgotten his keys (presumably the door was locked).
Finally, he tells Crowley that the door cannot be secured because of a previous break-in attempt.
If a previous break-in attempt prevented the police from securing his home, then why was he trying to break the door in because of forgotten keys? The door, presumably, was not securable because of a prior break-in attempt.
-PJ
I cannot 'figure' here, either. Moreso; that this seems not to have been highlighted in discussions and analysis as well. This from Officer Crowley's 'Incident Report' #90051267
[I ordered Off. Ivey, who was among the responding officers, to handcuff Gates with his arms in front of him for his comfort while I secured a cane for Gates from within the residence. I then asked Gates if he would like an officer to take possession of his house key and secure his front door, which he left wide open. Gates told me that the door was un securable due to a previous break attempt at the residence.
Shortly thereafter, a Harvard University maintenance person arrived on scene and appeared familiar with Gates. I asked Gates if he was comfortable with this Harvard University maintenance person securing his residence. He told me that he was.
Gates told Oprah,s “friend” Gayle King on the radio some interesting stuff......even Gayle wasn’t buying his story....she sounded astonished.