The Gates Affair: Who Do You Believe? Who Cares!

Hopefully this is the last time we’ll have to write about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, an unfortunate occurrence that we believe was deliberately “ramped up” by President Barack Obama in an effort to needlessly exacerbate racial tensions in this country and deflect attention away from his increasingly unpopular domestic agenda.

Gates, who was arrested for disorderly conduct outside his Cambridge home on July 16, has accused the local police department of racism.

The Harvard professor was returning from a trip to China where he was filming a documentary on Yo-Yo Ma’s ancestry for the Public Broadcasting Service, which receives nearly half of its funding from the taxpayers. Apparently Gates’ front door wouldn’t open, and he and his driver were observed trying to enter the home.

Gates wasn’t arrested for breaking into his own home, obviously (that’s not a crime), but he was arrested for disorderly conduct after the police showed up to investigate. Apparently, the professor talked a little too much trash to the police officer, who according to his report was leaving the scene after ascertaining that Gates in fact resided at the home.

Six days after the incident – and two days after polls showed his popularity and dometic agenda tanking – President Obama speculated that racism was involved in Gates’ arrest and accused the Cambridge Police Department of  acting “stupidly.”

Needless to say, as jaws dropped in the wake of Obama’s admittedly ill-informed comment, public discussion of his failed economic policies, socialized health care proposal, energy tax hike and cuts to defense spending ground to a screeching halt.

So … what actually happened at Gates’ home? Well, other than the President of the United States intentionally elevating a local “nontroversy” to an international race relations crisis?

First,  here is the official incident report from Gates’ arrest written by Cambridge cop James Crowley …

I could see an older black male standing in the foyer of [Gates' residence]… through the glass paned front door. … I asked if he would step out onto the porch and speak with me. He replied “no I will not”. He then demanded to know who I was. I told him that I was “Sgt. Crowley from the Cambridge Police” and that I was “investigating a report of a break in progress” at the residence. While I was making this statement, Gates opened the front door and exclaimed “why, because I’m a black man in America?”. I then asked Gates if there was anyone else in the residence. While yelling, he told me it was none of my business and accused me of being a racist police officer. I assured Gates that I was responding to a citizen’s call to the Cambridge Police… Gates seemed to ignore me and picked up a cordless telephone and dialed an unknown number. As he did so, I radioed … that I was in the residence with someone who appeared to be a resident but very uncooperative. … Gates was telling the person on the other end of the call that he was dealing with a racist police officer in his home. Gates then turned to me and told me that I had no idea who I was “messing” with and that I had not heard the last of it. … I asked Gates to provide me with photo identification so that I could verify that he resided at [the residence] and so I could radio my findings to ECC. Gates initially refused, demanding that I show him identification but then did supply me with a Harvard University identification card. Upon learning that Gates was affiliated with Harvard, I radioed and requested the presence of the Harvard University Police. … I radioed my findings to ECC … and prepared to leave. Gates again asked for my name which I began to provide. Gates began to yell over my spoken words by accusing me of being a racist police officer and leveling threats that he wasn’t someone to mess with. … When Gates asked a third time for my name, I explained to him that I had provided it at his request two separate times. Gates continued to yell at me. I told Gates that I was leaving his residence and that if he had any other questions regarding the matter, I would speak with him outside of the residence. As I began walking through the foyer toward the front door, I could hear Gates again demanding my name. I again told Gates that I would speak with him outside. 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. … His reply was “ya, I’ll speak with your mama outside”. When I left the residence, I noted that there were several Cambridge and Harvard University police officers assembled on the sidewalk in front of the residence. … As I descended the stairs to the sidewalk, Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him. Due to the tumultuous manner Gates had exhibited in his residence as well as his continued tumultuous behavior outside the residence, in view of the public, I warned Gates that he was becoming disorderly. Gates ignored my warning and continued to yell, which drew the attention of both the police officers and citizens, who appeared surprised and alarmed by Gates’s outburst. For the second time I warned Gates to calm down while I withdrew my … handcuffs from their carrying case. Gates again ignored my warning and continued to yell at me. It was at this time I informed Gates that he was under arrest. I then stepped up the stairs, onto the porch and attempted to place handcuffs on Gates. Gates initially resisted my attempt to handcuff him, yelling that he was “disabled” and would fall without his cane. After the handcuffs were properly applied, Gates complained that they were too tight. 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 his residence.

And here is Gates’ version of how events unfolded …

I’m saying [to Harvard maintenance services] “You need to send someone to fix my lock.” All of a sudden, there was a policeman on my porch. And I thought, “This is strange.” So I went over to the front porch still holding the phone, and I said “Officer, can I help you?” And he said, “Would you step outside onto the porch.” And the way he said it, I knew he wasn’t canvassing for the police benevolent association. All the hairs stood up on the back of my neck, and I realized that I was in danger. … I said, “No, I will not.” He said “I’m here to investigate a 911 call for breaking and entering into this house.” And I said “That’s ridiculous because this happens to be my house. And I’m a Harvard professor.” He says “Can you prove that you’re a Harvard professor?” I said yes, I turned and closed the front door to the kitchen where I’d left my wallet, and I got out my Harvard ID and my Massachusetts driver’s license which includes my address and I handed them to him. So he’s looking at my ID, he asked me another question, which I refused to answer. And I said I want your name and your badge number because I want to file a complaint because of the way he had treated me at the front door. He didn’t say, “Excuse me, sir, is there a disturbance here, is this your house?”—he demanded that I step out on the porch, and I don’t think he would have done that if I was a white person. But at that point, I realized that I was in danger. And so I said to him that I want your name, and I want your badge number and I said it repeatedly. … The police report says I was engaged in loud and tumultuous behavior. That’s a joke. Because I have a severe bronchial infection which I contracted in China and for which I was treated and have a doctor’s report from the Peninsula hotel in Beijing. So I couldn’t have yelled. … I kept saying to him, “What is your name, and what is your badge number?” and he refused to respond. I asked him three times, and he refused to respond. And then I said, “You’re not responding because I’m a black man, and you’re a white officer.” That’s what I said. He didn’t say anything. He turned his back to me and turned back to the porch. And I followed him. I kept saying, “I want your name, and I want your badge number.” There were probably half a dozen police officers at this point. The mistake I made was I stepped onto the front porch and asked one of his colleagues for his name and badge number. And when I did, the same officer said, “Thank you for accommodating our request. You are under arrest.” And he handcuffed me right there. It was outrageous. My hands were behind my back I said, “I’m handicapped. I walk with a cane. I can’t walk to the squad car like this.” There was a huddle among the officers; there was a black man among them. They removed the cuffs from the back and put them around the front. A crowd had gathered, and as they were handcuffing me and walking me out to the car, I said, “Is this how you treat a black man in America?”

So who do you believe?

Or do you care?

Frankly, we’ve reached the point of “not caring,” but then again we reached that point with whole Michael Jackson mess two weeks ago and for whatever reason that story is still wall-to-wall on Entertainment Tonight. Which reminds us, thank God for Jeopardy.

Wait … is that racist of us? Watching Alex Trebek because we don’t want to obsess over Michael Jackson for another month?

Anyway, Obama has since clarified his remarks, saying yesterday that …

[B]ecause this has been ratcheting up — and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up — I want to make clear that in my choice of words I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically — and I could have calibrated those words differently. And I told this to Sergeant Crowley. I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Professor Gates out of his home to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Professor Gates probably overreacted as well. My sense is you’ve got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in the way that it should have been resolved and the way they would have liked it to be resolved. [...] There are some who say that as President I shouldn’t have stepped into this at all because it’s a local issue. I have to tell you that that part of it I disagree with. The fact that this has become such a big issue I think is indicative of the fact that race is still a troubling aspect of our society. Whether I were black or white, I think that me commenting on this and hopefully contributing to constructive — as opposed to negative — understandings about the issue, is part of my portfolio.

Wait … Obama thinks that this became a big issue because “race is still a troubling aspect of our society?”

Is he friggin’ serious?

This wasn’t Mississippi Burning, people. Let’s not forget that prior to Gates acting like a horse’s ass, a government-funded broadcasting corporation flew him half-way around the world to do a documentary on a world-famous, French-born Chinese-American virtuoso cellist.

How are we a racist society, again?

Look, this only became a “big issue” when Obama “acted stupidly” by opening his fool mouth and weighing in on a situation that he had absolutely no business weighing in on … for selfish political purposes, no less.

Enough, though … the distraction’s over.

We hope.

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