Arrested for trying to get into one's own home

[Dreamstalker]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/bre...s_to_be_d.html

Long story short, Henry Louis Gates arrived home after a trip to China and his front door was jammed. Someone called the police to report "two black men trying to break in" (Gates and his driver; how do you not know your neighbors?). Gates unlocked his back door and turned the alarm off, to be confronted by police. Gates showed his identification, and then things get weird.

Some claim he got belligerent. I'm not sure what to believe on the events, but I do think the police acted incorrectly in this case. As soon as Gates could prove that his house was indeed his (how would Random Burglar know how to turn off the alarm, and why would anyone bring suitcases to a burglary?), that should have been the end of it. IMO the officer provoked things by not apologizing and leaving.

I see that most of the article comments are saying that Gates is an egotistical jerk trying to play the race card....I don't know the man personally, but somehow find it hard to believe things snowballed with him flinging insults.

Apparently, the neighbor who called the cops was the editor of the Harvard magazine.

[AFPheonix]

I'm guessing Professor Gates was not at his best after a long plane ride, but still, to be cuffed on his own front porch for trying to get into his own home? That's a bit much.

[Dreamstalker]

Now I'm hearing that the officer was in plainclothes (huh? plainclothes responding to a 911?) and had already entered the house (what was the reason for entry?) by the time Gates was able to get in...

I hope he presses the issue. I do agree with the commentors that are asking "if it was two older white men would this even have happened?"

Having dealt with CPD before (I happen to have a marker in my bag, why assume I'm out to scribble on the benches?), and watched other interactions, that force does have a few bad ones.

[Flyndaran]

Oh man. I've watched that guy on Oregon Public Broadcasting.
He regularly makes programs about race issues on television and university.
They fucked with the wrong man.

In the U.S. you can say anything you want to a cop for it's protected as free speech. As long as you don't make threats or interfer with a cop's job, you can call him all sorts of things.

[Nyoibo]

‘Are you not giving me your name and badge number because I’m a black man in America?’

That's the bit I take exception with, looks like he brought race into it when it wasn't necesary.

But being arrested in your own home is still bull.

[Dreamstalker]

The way I see it, there was no reason for the officer not to give his badge number when asked. Either way, the cop should have apologized and left (why did he radio Harvard police for "backup"?).

Yes, both sides could have handled things better but IMO the onus was on the officer to "do the right thing" the minute it became clear that Gates was supposed to be there. If I were in Gates' situation (LONG trip home only to be confronted with a jammed front door) I'm sure that I'd get snarky too if the police suddenly showed up.

[tabbyblack13]

The Harvard Campus was called in to confirm his identity (read that in another article). It is easy to fake a drivers licenses. He was also kicking at the front door and his neighbor who probably hasn't seen him for a month, might have though he moved, or a new neighbor that never saw him before called the police. If you see someone trying to force a door open and you don't recognize him are you going let him do that or call the police?

If someone is being confrontational to the police then they deserve to be cuffed until they calm down.

This guy makes a living on racist behaviors of others. Wouldn't it be great for him to prove his research and everything he talks about?

[Flyndaran]

...
If someone is being confrontational to the police then they deserve to be cuffed until they calm down.

This guy makes a living on racist behaviors of others. Wouldn't it be great for him to prove his research and everything he talks about?

Being confrontational is code for uppity too often to take any cop's word for it. T
his guy makes a living studying race and race relations. You didn't see his awesome show detailing heritage somef amous people didn't even know of?
A number of black americans that thought they were part native american were actually part white. One very white woman was a bit shocked that she had a black ancestor.
He found out that he was approximately 50% white. His Y chromosome came from Ireland, and through D.N.A. narrowed down to two slave ships that I believe his matriarchial mother came from.
He isn't a media whore moron like Al Sharpton in any way, shape, or form.

[Pedersen]

If someone is being confrontational to the police then they deserve to be cuffed until they calm down.

That is one of the most disturbing things I think I've ever read. "Confrontational" can mean as little as saying "Get off of my property" (even less) all the way up to drawing a gun on the officer. At the low end, we have to disagree on appropriate behavior from the police. Being told to get off of his property would have been perfectly justifiable, and deserved zero reaction.

Police do not have the right to arrest someone for them being told to bugger off. And if the police think they do have that right, we have some pretty severe problems.

[Nyoibo]

Being put in handcuffs or other restraints is not being arrested.

[Pedersen]

Okay, point taken. It is still distressing to see people make a statement that being "confrontational" (without clarification towards either end of the spectrum) is sufficient cause for a police officer to use physical restraint on an individual.

If "confrontation" means "threatening bodily harm", then I can agree. If "confrontational" means "calling the cop an asshole for refusal to properly identify himself", then I whole heartedly disagree with the use of any restraint by the officer.

[Flyndaran]

Being put in handcuffs or other restraints is not being arrested.

If they weren't doing something worthy of getting arrested then they weren't doing anything worthy of getting cuffed.

[Boozy]

Let's say Gates was a raging asshole to the cops. Let's assume that he accused them of racism, screamed at them, called them and their mothers horrible names, and told them to get the f%$& off his property.

So what? People are allowed to act like raging assholes in their own homes. As soon as the cops realized that they were technically trespassing, they should have apologized and left. For some reason, they didn't. So of course Mr. Gates got more pissed off.

The first responsibility of the police should be to leave law abiding citizens alone.

[crazylegs]

The first responsibility of the police should be to leave law abiding citizens alone.

It is, but it can take an awfully long time to work out who is a law abiding citizen and who isn't, and if said person is shouting and screaming at you (hypothetical, that may not have happened in this instance) it can draw out the process far longer than is needed because the officer needs to calm things down for their own (and everyone elses) safety before working out what is what.

[lordlundar]

To start off with, both sides were very wrong here. The officer should have apologized and went off citing a misunderstanding, but there was also no reason for gates to go flying off the handle. (I mean look at the first picture there, is that a picture of a calm person?) So yes, both sides fucked up and both sides are stubborn.

Now that said, Gates does seem to be throwing around racism pretty readily. That article and video has him pretty much saying the exclusive reason he was cuffed was because of racism. Now I'm not trying to pin him as the same as the people who scream racism every time they don't get their way, but he seems exposed to racism as part of his job. It's not so far of a stretch to see racism in areas where there was none.