Professor Gates vs. Officer Crowley

[markw]

No argument with that.

I have no problem with someone milking an opportunity or relying on connections to get out of a jam.

So, you're saying Gates did the right and honorable thing? It sure seems so.

 

[rnatalli]

So, you're saying Gates did the right and honorable thing? It sure seems so.

I didn't say that.

 

[Matt34]

The investigation was over. It was already established Gates was the owner of the house. He was arrested after the fact.

He had shown his ID and the officer called the Harvard police to confirm. This fact is not in dispute by either side. The arrest happened afterwards.

I don't believe the majority of police in general are crooked. I do believe there are a fair share of scumbags though. This officer obviously lost his cool and did something stupid. Understandable as we're all human, but he's a hired professional expected to keep his cool.

I don't see where the officer lost his cool or did something stupid. However, the professor did and just because you wear a badge does not make you a door mat for a liberal, racist douchebag. Go out and start shouting expletives at a passing cop and see where that gets you.

 

[rnatalli]

I don't see where the officer lost his cool or did something stupid. However, the professor did and just because you wear a badge does not make you a door mat for a liberal, racist douchebag. Go out and start shouting expletives at a passing cop and see where that gets you.

There's a difference between shooting your mouth off at a cop in public and doing it in your home. If you're in my home, I'll say what I want to you. If you don't like it, get out.

I'd like to know what idiot neighbor thought a man with a cane was a burglar.

 

[Quickley17]

Allegedly he and his driver were using a crowbar on the door. Cane or not, I hope my neighbor (assuming they don't know me which isn't THAT rare) calls the police.

Also, allegedly he initially refused to show his ID, which, if I were a cop investigating a burglary would raise some red flags.

my 0.02 + 0.02 cents.

I think there are pieces of this story missing, and I agree that BO was shotgunning when he made a comment so soon. I think him doing so unfairly undermines the validity of anything the policeman now says, right or not. How long does it take for police reports to become public record?

 

[Matt34]

There's a difference between shooting your mouth off at a cop in public and doing it in your home. If you're in my home, I'll say what I want to you. If you don't like it, get out.

I'd like to know what idiot neighbor thought a man with a cane was a burglar.

Being in your house still doesn't give you the right when the cop is called there for an investigation... and continuing to do so as you follow the cop outside your house is what landed him in cuffs.

 

[rnatalli]

What I ultimately see is an officer and a professor who both decided to take part in a pissing match thinking they had the upper hand. Unfortunately for the officer, he does not have it.

 

[lsiberian]

I'm tired of everybody playing victim. Grow a pair. I understand racial profiling happens, but he didn't have to say anything. He could have and should have used his constitutional right to remain silent. He's a harvard professor, but lacked judgement int his situation. If he weren't a professor he probably would have been given far worse.

I understand and support Obama to a point. He's wanting to help with the race issues in this nation. It's very clear that the whitehouse has divided this nation between blacks and progressive thinkers and those whites that even McCain supporters can't stand. I'm deeply concerned about the treatment of minorities in our country. And despite this incident they are still treated like second class citizens in many places.

 

[split0101]

As they say there are three sides to every story; the cops side, the professors side, and the truth. I agree with a previous poster both men got into a pissing match of who has more authority. I dont beleive either one of them is innocent in this situation.

Gates should be thankful that his neighbor wasnt Joe Horn.

 

[markw]

There's a difference between shooting your mouth off at a cop in public and doing it in your home. If you're in my home, I'll say what I want to you. If you don't like it, get out.

The cop did get out. Gates followed and continued outside. He was told to stop. He continued. He got arrested. QED.

I'd like to know what idiot neighbor thought a man with a cane was a burglar.

Define "neighbor". It doesn't just mean the people next door or across the street. That term could refer to anyone who lives nearby, even a block or so away. In an urban environment (and Cambridge certainly qualifies), this could entail several hundred people.

Do you live in a big, congested city? Do you know all your "neighbors"?

And, at night and from a distance, I'm pretty sure a cane could be mistaken for a crowbar, particularly when they are trying to force a door open..

Face it, by playing the victim, Gates just set back the civil rights movement about a decade or more.

 

[Schupo]

I can't believe what I'm reading. People shouldn't have to treat cops with more respect than they deserve (trying to arrest me for trespassing on my own property? Get the **** out of here.) Disrespect is not an excuse to arrest someone. That's ego. He proved to the officer he lived there. After that, it should have been "I'm sorry for the inconvenience" and left. Can't handle someone getting pissed off at you? Don't become a cop.

However, the professor did and just because you wear a badge does not make you a door mat for a liberal, racist douchebag.

It sure does, actually. Just because you're a citizen doesn't make you a doormat for police investigation. I can't believe people here are suggesting that we should roll over for the police.

 

[Matt34]

I can't believe what I'm reading. People shouldn't have to treat cops with more respect than they deserve (trying to arrest me for trespassing on my own property? Get the **** out of here.) Disrespect is not an excuse to arrest someone. That's ego. He proved to the officer he lived there. After that, it should have been "I'm sorry for the inconvenience" and left. Can't handle someone getting pissed off at you? Don't become a cop.



It sure does, actually. Just because you're a citizen doesn't make you a doormat for police investigation. I can't believe people here are suggesting that we should roll over for the police.

Did you bother reading the story?

 

[markw]

I don't think anyone said that.

It sure does, actually. Just because you're a citizen doesn't make you a doormat for police investigation. I can't believe people here are suggesting that we should roll over for the police.

Answering their questions when they are doing their job is not "rolling over".

Try that attitude when you get pulled over for a traffic violation and see how well that works for you. After all, you're in your car, aren't you?

 

[CraigV]

Input from people who weren’t there is pointless & irrelevant, and only serves to add fuel to a fire which has been burning for too long.

 

[dylancash]

As somebody who despises both parties, this thread is a perfect example of what is wrong with this country. Whether you guys will admit it or not, if this situation was reversed, lets say a liberal cop arresting Sean Hannity in his home in the exact same situation, everybody posting right now would be taking the opposite side. Now the cop would be the leftist government trying to tell people what they can do in the privacy of their own home and Hannity would be a hero for standing up to such abuses of leftist power. And likewise the liberals would be blasting Hannity for not respecting the policeman's authority. Its a joke.

Sorry to break it to you but there are no principles being argued here. Its a simple case of Red or Blue. Nothing else matters in this country.

 

[bandphan]

lets say a liberal cop arresting Sean Hannity in his home in the exact same situation,

Lets say that those two things are not going to happen

Im waiting for the audio tapes to be released And for the police to ask the POTUS to reveiw the tapes and issue an apology in a highly public situation, im led believe that the police might be in the right.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/24/cambridge-police-unit-demands-apology-obama-stupidly-remark/

 

[Rickster71]

Wow, I can't believe some of the posts I'm reading.

I have a feeling that many here are too young to realize that racism is a two way street. (that's not meant as a put down)

Markw posted a link to the police report. Doesn't that help at all, reading both sides of the story?

Just picture yourself as the cop in that situation, a women tells you she saw someone forcing a door on a house that was previously broken into. You walk up to the front, and a man fitting the description is inside.

The real story here is how The POTUS commented on national TV without knowing the whole story, and simply continued Race Baiting as Al Sharpton and Jackson would. All to further a political agenda. I hope people expect more from any president.

Just look at our cross section of people here on this site, that automatically sided with the professor, before knowing all the facts.

Also the way the so called main stream news covered the story.
CNN, MSNBC and others, gave out nothing but disinformation.
Does anyone else see how incidences such as these are exploited to sway public opinion and further agendas?

 

[speakEZ]

This whole thing is a joke. The only reason that I have .02 in the matter is my brother used to be cop (besides that I know fist hand what happens when one talks sh$& to a jerk cop ). He told me stories of people telling him to F-off along with all kinds of other things you would expect from low-lifes. He said there were time that he would just have to say ok and walk away. Sucks but sometimes you have to. But again that didn't stop me from going downtown, however nothing went on my record when the magistrate dismissed it.

From what I read Gates started off on the wrong foot when he refused to show his ID. Say what you want, but Gates had a bone to pick when the conversation started. Then calling him a racist!? WTF for? Like the police were out to "get" him. Give me a break. He deserved to go to jail (weather he should have or not, I'm undecided) and he did. I do believe that under NO circumstances was racial profiling used by Crowley in any way, which is why this is a big stink in the first place.

What a silly debate.

 

[Rickster71]

As somebody who despises both parties, this thread is a perfect example of what is wrong with this country. Whether you guys will admit it or not, if this situation was reversed, lets say a liberal cop arresting Sean Hannity in his home in the exact same situation, everybody posting right now would be taking the opposite side. Now the cop would be the leftist government trying to tell people what they can do in the privacy of their own home and Hannity would be a hero for standing up to such abuses of leftist power. And likewise the liberals would be blasting Hannity for not respecting the policeman's authority. Its a joke.

Sorry to break it to you but there are no principles being argued here. Its a simple case of Red or Blue. Nothing else matters in this country.

Me thinks your post, is an example of what's wrong with the country.

You see life through a political prism.
A cut and dry situation is exploited and Politicized, and fed to the Populace, to Polarize.
Wow look at all the "P" words in one sentence..

 

[speakEZ]

Wow, I can't believe some of the posts I'm reading.

I have a feeling that many here are too young to realize that racism is a two way street. (that's not meant as a put down)

Markw posted a link to the police report. Doesn't that help at all, reading both sides of the story?

Just picture yourself as the cop in that situation, a women tells you she saw someone forcing a door on a house that was previously broken into. You walk up to the front, and a man fitting the description is inside.

The real story here is how The POTUS commented on national TV without knowing the whole story, and simply continued Race Baiting as Al Sharpton and Jackson would. All to further a political agenda. I hope people expect more from any president.

Just look at our cross section of people here on this site, that automatically sided with the professor, before knowing all the facts.

Also the way the so called main stream news covered the story.
CNN, MSNBC and others, gave out nothing but disinformation.
Does anyone else see how incidences such as these are exploited to sway public opinion and further agendas?

The way the mainstream media covered this is not a debate for me as I know exactly what to expect from them. It has been that way for years and will always be. The President is still a young president, but even his latest display in lack of judgment doesn't surprise me. Next thing you know there will be a Law Enforcement restraint Czar.