Harvard professor arrested

[SwordoftheMorning]

After a bit of research, the Boston Globe has discovered the cop who arrested this guy was an anti-racism expert who taught a class on profiling.

Again, it goes back to what I said days and days ago. Sword, you want to believe racism in EVERYONE. I'm sorry you have so much hatred, fear, and bias. But the chances of this event occurring because the professor was black are very, very small. It's because the moron did not know when to shut the fuck up.

The only racist in this story is the one who screaming racism.

I believe racism when it rears its ugly head. You want to pretend you live in a world where racism is a concept but rarely if ever is the actual cause of any incident. You and the others in this thread that are adamant there is no racism involved simply choose to believe the cop's version of the story. That's ur choice, but that don't make it fact. That this cop once taught classes on how not to profile means what ? He's an expert on profiling is one way to look at it.

And the silly tactic of pointing the finger back at Black people that step forward to bring racist action to the light of day and labeling THEM as the racist is as I alluded to earlier, nothing more than a 21st century attempt to silence any and all references to the issue. Sorry, ain't gonna work. It makes you uncomfortable ? disturbs you perfect view of the world ? Too fucking bad. Its out there, it happens every single fucking day to people in every corner of this country. That it doesnt happen to you is no excuse whatsoever to dismiss that very plain and simple fact.

And as for feeling sorry for me ..... Damn. thats laughable. I revel in being passionate about issues I care about. Your attempts to label that negatively ring true only to you and those who are desparate to ignore the truth, no matter what. Me ? I love being me.

[Stego]

Sword, then you love being a racist.

ETA: Why do you hate so much? Why do you believe the worst with literally no proof of it? Why are you so willing to disbelieve someone simply because of the color of their skin?

[TrueMetis]

The only reason this is a big deal is because Gates is a black professor. If he had been a white proffesor and this happened we wouldn't have heard a damn thing about it, if he had just been black but not a professor we wouldn't have heard a damn thing about it. There are to many people in the world that overreact to stupid meaningless things, this cop and Gates included.

Also maybe the cop was just having a bad day and was pushed over the edge here. That doesn't excuse his behavior but it means he doesn't do this type of thing before or maybe he actually feels justified arresting Gates

[Meili]

I remember the last time a college was involved in a racism scandal and the last time many prominent people, including professors, who proclaimed their outrage but whispered their apologies, if they apologized at all. I would wait before I made a judgement too quick. Last time they ended up with egg all over their face. On the other hand, an apology hardly makes the news where the accusations always do.

[Shryke]

"CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The white police sergeant criticized by President Barack Obama for arresting black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his Massachusetts home is a police academy expert on understanding racial profiling.

Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming.

"I have nothing but the highest respect for him as a police officer. He is very professional and he is a good role model for the young recruits in the police academy," Fleming told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The course, called "Racial Profiling," teaches about different cultures that officers could encounter in their community "and how you don't want to single people out because of their ethnic background or the culture they come from," Fleming said"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_...olar_disorderly

Sounds like David Duke to me.

:rofl:

This story keeps getting better.

I'm guessing that his position teaching people NOT to judge others based on race somehow proves he's even more of a racist then people had thought before.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Tempra,

Why do you think the officer acted appropreately in arresting Prof. Gates? Should yelling at a Police officer automatically give the Officer cause to arrest the person who is yelling? Particularly, when you are on property owned by the person doing the yelling and there is no other cause to arrest?

[Prince of the North]

This is a long thread and I've only read the beginning and last few pages so if this has already been discussed please forgive me. I wanted to just throw a question out to everyone: What does everyone think would have happened had the Professor been white and everything else happened exactly the same?

From what I've read and seen on this I think he still would have been arrested for disorderly conduct. It seems to me that the arrest came due to the fact that he was challenging the officer's authority not because he's black. I mean, no matter who you are if you challenge an officer's authority you will most likely reap the whirlwind so to speak. I think the challenged officer really has no choice but to quickly prove that he/she has the power in that situation and not the challenger. So, I guess I definitely think abuse of power is right on in this case but I'm not so sure about racism. Hmm... :dunno:

[Stego]

Scot, what world do you live in that you can yell at a cop repeatedly without being arrested?

Seriously, go out and try it right now. Shout racist accusations at a cop repeatedly, even after he tells you to calm down. See what happens.

[alguien]

Its nice to see that the poor repressed white police officers have so many defenders. :)

Sergeant Crowley's background as someone who taught courses against racial profiling and the fact that there was an African American officer on the scene do seem to weigh in the favor that the officer's arrest of Gates wasn't racially motivated. (ETA: as DG said, I'm agnostic about this--we don't know the man's internal state of mind)

He's just a prick who abused his authority. (or lost his temper and abused his authority)

[Shryke]

Scot, what world do you live in that you can yell at a cop repeatedly without being arrested?

Seriously, go out and try it right now. Shout racist accusations at a cop repeatedly, even after he tells you to calm down. See what happens.

Even if your legally allowed to do this (I have no idea what the laws are), it's just a stupid idea.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Stego,

Scot, what world do you live in that you can yell at a cop repeatedly without being arrested?

Seriously, go out and try it right now. Shout racist accusations at a cop repeatedly, even after he tells you to calm down. See what happens.

So, if a police officer has entered my house without my permission and without a warrent and then has confirmed I'm a legal resident of that house I should be subject to arrest if I have yell at the officer and demand his name and badge number?

I'm not saying yelling at the officer is a smart thing to do. I'm saying yelling at the officer in your own home when you've committed no other illegal acts should not give rise to cause for arrest. That when the officer does arrest someone for "yelling at him" the officer is abusing their authority and should be punished for doing so.

[Trebla]

I never realized teaching a class somehow makes someone immune to certain tendencies?

So a person who trained other people not to racial profile wouldn't say something like "all black people steal"

Oh wait, that DID happen while I was working Loss Prevention!The trainer said that a week later

I get amused by these threads. The poor down trodden majority come out of the woodwork.

eta: made clearer

[Tempra]

Tempra,

Why do you think the officer acted appropreately in arresting Prof. Gates? Should yelling at a Police officer automatically give the Officer cause to arrest the person who is yelling? Particularly, when you are on property owned by the person doing the yelling and there is no other cause to arrest?

Should yelling at a police officer automatically give a cop a cause to arrest? It would depend on the facts. The police officer had every right to be at Gates's residence. When he discovered that Gates was lawfully in the house, he attempted to leave. He was then repeatedly yelled at as he attempted to leave the property. The officer gave Gates two warnings to calm down and act rationally. Gates chose to continue yelling at the officer.

Do you think an officer can never arrest an individual for yelling (but not physically threatening) at him?

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Tempra,

Do you think an officer can never arrest an individual for yelling (but not physically threatening) at him?

As you say, it depends on the circumstances. If the officer is investigating a complaint about loud behavior coming from the property that is disturbing others, yes, I would say more loud behavior, like yelling at the officer, would give rise to good cause for arrest.

In this case the crime he was seeking to investigate was B & E. That clearly wasn't going on. He pissed off the home owner and should have walked away. Angry people are frequently loud. Arresting Prof. Gates was not appropreate because no one else was complaining about his behaivor.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

"CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The white police sergeant criticized by President Barack Obama for arresting black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his Massachusetts home is a police academy expert on understanding racial profiling.

Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming.

"I have nothing but the highest respect for him as a police officer. He is very professional and he is a good role model for the young recruits in the police academy," Fleming told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The course, called "Racial Profiling," teaches about different cultures that officers could encounter in their community "and how you don't want to single people out because of their ethnic background or the culture they come from," Fleming said"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_...olar_disorderly

Sounds like David Duke to me.

Shit dude the world is full of hypocrites who teach against actions then go out and do them. Hell look at the Republican party and these guys who preach America is losing it's core values of family and shit, and then they disappear to South America to cheat on their wives, or they've had homosexual affairs while touting against homosexuality. People rarely practice what they preach.

In fact, though I don't think this specific case is racism, just having a guy like this cop teaching that kind of class shows you what's wrong with our law enforcement.

[Shryke]

I never realized teaching a class somehow makes someone immune to certain tendencies?

Soa person who trained not to racial profile wouldn't say something like "all black people steal"

Oh wait, that DID happen while I was working Loss Prevention!

I get amused by these threads. The poor down trodden majority come out of the woodwork.

Well, let's see.

There's no evidence race had anything to do with the Officers actions.

In fact, the officer teaches a class on how NOT to take race into account when being a cop.

So, yeah, all facts right now point to "powertripping cop" instead of "racist cop".

It's ok if you don't get it though. Logic is hard , I know.

[Tempra]

I never realized teaching a class somehow makes someone immune to certain tendencies?

Soa person who trained not to racial profile wouldn't say something like "all black people steal"

Oh wait, that DID happen while I was working Loss Prevention!

I get amused by these threads. The poor down trodden majority come out of the woodwork.

It is evidence that makes Gates's story less probable.

I too am amused by these threads. Obviously the majority is always wrong (and racist).

[Trebla]

Well, let's see.

There's no evidence race had anything to do with the Officers actions.

In fact, the officer teaches a class on how NOT to take race into account when being a cop.

So, yeah, all facts right now point to "powertripping cop" instead of "racist cop".

It's ok if you don't get it though. Logic is hard , I know.

but being an ass isn't, i see

[Stego]

What is to stop any minority from yelling racism in any situation, no matter how illogical?

If we are to believe (GASP!!!) a fucking white guy in any situation, would this not be the one?

*****Scot, I know you live in the state with a confederate flag, but as much as you might wish it different, race is the only important issue in this case.

[Tempra]

Tempra,

As you say, it depends on the circumstances. If the officer is investigating a complaint about loud behavior coming from the property that is disturbing others, yes, I would say more loud behavior, like yelling at the officer, would give rise to good cause for arrest.

In this case the crime he was seeking to investigate was B & E. That clearly wasn't going on. He pissed off the home owner and should have walked away. Angry people are frequently loud. Arresting Prof. Gates was not appropreate because no one else was complaining about his behaivor.

The statute doesn't require anyone else to be complaining about his behavior. And just because the officer was investigating a B&E does not mean that he cannot arrest someone for another crime. I doubt the legislature envisioned this scenario when they were writing the disorderly conduct statute, but I think calling this an abuse of authority is a stretch. Perhaps if the officer arrested Gates for disorderly conduct after Gates showed is his ID or if the officer arrested Gates before he warned him about acting disorderly. Instead, the officer gave Gates two warnings to calm down and stop yelling at him. Doesn't sound like an abuse of authority. Disorderly conduct is intentionally a vague and ambiguous crime that gives officers a lot of leeway. Blame the legislature.