Officer That Arrested Henry Louis Gates Jr. Not Backing Down

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Run time: 05:05 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAoJfmQxpXs   Posted on YouTube: July 24, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: July 24, 2009 By DU Member: Amerigo Vespucci Views on DU: 1273

 

[Hulk]

1. More than meets the eye...

I'm not buying this at all. I can easily put together a scenario where this officer acted totally appropriately, and maybe this "professor" is not the saint he is made out to be. I think President Obama should have reserved his thoughts on this one, not knowing all the facts. I am a bit disappointed with him offering his "two cents worth" to the problem.

I am from Portland. There is or was a black young man, Ron Herndon, who was also a black activist, and one of the most angry and hostile persons I have ever been around. I can easily see him being rude and arrogant to an officer and creating a problem, just for the shear pleasure of it.

I have visited New Orleans, and I felt, what I consider to be, racial prejudice IN REVERSE. I was as polite as I have always been to people of color, but I felt like I was being treated as a subject by a lot of black residents when I did nothing to deserve their rude manner.

I'm not saying this can all be as it appears, but I am saying it could also be much different than the daughter and the news have presented this picture. I always treat the police with the greatest of respect, and I expect respectful treatment in return. These men and women have to put up with the scum of the earth..and they deserve at least our cooperation. I'm thinking this man may have been acting in a less than respectful manner, and very possibly in a hostile and insulting manner.

Did this officer say something about being insulted by the resident? I can easily see a "professor" getting uppity and perhaps giving this officer a bad time, and in return, the officer being offended and responding in a less than cooperative manner.

Just saying....this happens with ANYONE....black, white, yellow, whatever ethnic background. There are people who are just a bit rude in their manner, and it brings out the beast in you. Maybe this officer responded to being provoked.

We need to just let them handle this one and keep our noses out of something we know very little about. It isn't ALWAYS about race. Sometimes it's just a matter of respect and compliance. I have a feeling that may be the case.

Would you apologize to someone who called you a derogatory name when you were in the line of duty? I sure as hell wouldn't.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. I think, if I were a black middle aged man with a Harvard degree,

I probably would have felt very secure about myself and my standing in the community, and I probably would have had mixed feelings of shock, anger and resentment to be challenged at my own doorstep, by a white policeman.

You know, you hear all kinds of things about property rights, and how a homeowner has Castle rule and what not. If this had happened in a place like Waco and Gates had been white, all hell would have broken loose about law enforcement gone wild.

[yodermon]

4. 'I can easily see a "professor" getting uppity and perhaps giving this officer a bad time'

Are you fucking serious? Did you actually post that?

[Tx4obama]

18. Why is it

Why is it okay for African-Americans to use the word 'uppity' and not others?
Here is an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYKYbB5Z5Aw

Also, I wanted to add to this thread:
1) Sgt. Crowley was doing his JOB. He was responding to a 911 call and thought a burglary was in progress.
2) Mr. Gates gave Crowley his Harvard ID that only had a photo and name on it and NO address.
3) Mr. Gates became even more irate when Sgt. Crowley asked for an ID with an address on it.
4) Mr. Gates was ranting and raving on the front porch IN PUBLIC in front of other officers and neighbors and therefore was displaying disorderly conduct in PUBLIC, so Sgt. Crowley had every right to arrest him.
5) It was Mr. Gates that brought 'race' into this by bringing up the fact that the woman that called 911 'a white woman' and by repeatedly hollering things about black men in America.

I believe when the radio transmission tapes are released we will see just how angry and belligerent Mr. Gates was and I think that after the tapes are played on TV then it will be Mr. Gates that will come out on issue an apology to Sgt. Crowley and the police force.

[Jade Fox]

6. So, all Black activists are "angry and hostile"?

Gates is a highly respected author, Professor, sixty some years old, and disabled. But in spite of all those things, he's no different than some young angry black activist you happen to have been around? That's what you seem to be saying.

I cannot believe you actually used the word uppity, and put the word professor in quotes. Do you not believe Gates is actually a professor, but just another "uppity" black?

By the way, it is part of being a police officer to remain calm in the face of antagonistic behavior. I don't envy them that task, and I personally always try to make their jobs easier, but it does come with the territory. However, I believe most people would have responded with anger in Gates situation.

[enki23]

15. "uppity?" are you for fuking real?

this is all so unbelievably fucking stupid. can we all climb out of our retard holes for a moment and realize that there neither is, nor should be no legal obligation to act "respectful" of policemen, beyond the minimum required for cooperation when such is necessary?.

[Ysabela]

2. Sgt. Jim Crow is doing the racist-double-down.

Hopefully his prolonging of the issue by his refusal to apologize and threat to sue for defamation will finally cost this racist pig his job and pension. It scares me that he's trained classes on racial-profiling, meaning there could be hundreds or thousands of Sgt. Jim Crow disciples out there.

PS: Notice in the video, they say that he is "an expert on racial profiling". Damn straight he is. Too bad he's an expert in the wrong way.

[Barbara2423]

5. The Officer Acted Stupid

I would be very upset if a police officer asked me for my ID while trying to enter my own home with a key. Once Professor Gates provided the ID that should have been the end of it.

Okay, let's take it a step further, "they" want to use the excuse that battered women who have significant others have keys. (By the way this was not a domestic violence call). Just tell the professor you would like to look around because sometimes this is the case and you want to be sure everything is okay. But the officer did not do that. When Gates requested a badge number the officer should have proudly given it do him and walked away. He should not have been arrested. Remember the officer - an intimidating figure was in control of the situation not Gates. The officer's behavior was stupid.

[glitch]

7. Very much so. Some people seem to have a blind spot about this. And welcome to DU!

Americans have gotten far too desensitized to authoritarian tactics, IMO.

[mix]

17. and militarized policing

[tblue37]

12. Gates was *not* trying to enter his home with a key when he was

asked for ID. He was already in his own home, on the telephone, when the cop came to the door.

[Barbara2423]

16. Thanks for the correction. This makes the officer actions stupd

if Gates was already in his home.

[Tx4obama]

19. And

And the cop was doing his job by responding to a 911 call - a call that stated that someone thought a burglary was in progress.
Sgt. Crowley followed procedure.

[florida08]

8. good video

and as Elizabeth points out the officer has publicly announced there will be no apology coming from him. Perhaps more work is required in his field because he did not diffuse the situation but escalated it. They seem to forget they're servants of the people not the other way around. Not all police officers are this way but many are.

[Gator_Matt]

9. Officer was just doing his job

He was sent to the scene. He had to make sure that it was the homeowner and not a burglar. If the person found there refused to show his driver's license and became belligerent, what do you expect to happen? Just because the person in question happens to be black doesn't mean this is a racist incident. As I've posted in other threads, I've had a couple of encounters with cops that were unnecessary, yet I was polite and the situation ended. Perhaps if I were black I would claim that the cops targeted me due to skin color. I guess what I'm going for is that there ARE legitimate cases of racism, but other times I have to wonder how much paranoia and conditioning factor into these reactions.

[These Eyes]

10. Wouldn't it be interesting if the reason he was…

"hand-picked" by a black sergeant to teach classes on racial profiling was because he had past incidences of racial profiling in his record?

[gorfle]

11. I don't know what to think here.

At this time, from what I've seen, and watching the police officer on video, I tend to side with the police officer.

This is a sergeant with 11 years of service on the force. He was picked by a black superior officer to teach classes on avoiding racial profiling at the police academy. He has performed CPR on a black man.

Based on just the above facts, at face value, this police officer would seem to be one of the "good guys".

I do have to wonder about the course of events that would have a police officer show up at a home and, having been given proof of identity and residence, still caused him to arrest the homeowner, regardless of race.

One could see how in an alternative situation perhaps there WAS a burglar and he had stolen the identity or was holding hostage the homeowner and if the police officer had done nothing more than wave him on his way after presenting paperwork THEN what kind of shit would have hit the fan later.

Perhaps the officer was taking extra care to make sure that the paperwork matched the person presenting it and the homeowner just lost his cool?

I think it is wrong for Gates' daughter to say on television that if the police officer won't come forward and offer an apology so that we can all come together on this issue that he needs additional sensitivity training. If he did nothing wrong, he should not be compelled to apologize.

I also think it was wrong of President Obama to accuse this officer of acting "stupidly" when he does not know all the facts of the case. Perhaps the next time President Obama hears something go bump in the night he can go investigate it himself, in lieu of his private police force, and after doing that for 11 years or so he can offer an opinion on such situation.

[winyanstaz]

13. The officer was NOT just doing his job....

He knew he had the man that lived there who had identified himself. The officer knowingly violated the SECOND AMENDMENT of the Constitution and violated Gate's civil rights. Period.
Read the damn Constitution and get a clue.

[izquierdista]

14. Well of course not

It's not just coincidence that the pigs are pig-headed. I'm sure all the other cops who have cost their cities large judgments for police brutality won't back down and admit to it either.