Community | July 20, 2009 | 9 comments

Henry Louis Gates Jr. arrested in own home by police investgating break in

source: http://chronicle.com/news/article/6809/henry-louis-gates-jr-is-arrested-at-his-own-home-by-p...

Image
andyjoe
Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling.

Police arrived at Gates’ Ware Street home near Harvard Square at 12:44 p.m. to question him. Gates, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, was said to have locked himself out of his house and was trying to get inside.

He was booked for disorderly conduct after reportedly exhibiting tumultuous behavior according to the Cambridge police log.

Cambridge police would not comment on the arrest, citing an investigation into the incident by Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. A spokesman for Leone said Gates is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 26 and said the office could not provide details on the arrest until that time.

Friends said Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, who has taken on previous cases with racial implications, is representing Gates.
  1. groups:
    Community,   Picked for Current Tonight,   USA NEWS,   Police State
  2. tags:
    WTF,  Police,  Picked for Current Tonight,  Race,  3 more
  3.     
    |

9 comments // Henry Louis Gates Jr. arrested in own home by police investgating break in

  • StrangE2U
    • 0
      StrangE2U  

    • I am sorry, but refusal to show id to police is an arrestable offence... my friend Matt was arrested a few weeks ago for the same situation... was outside a local restaurant after a night at the bar, apparently someone had not payed their bill (not in our party), so police came just as we were about to leave... police asked for id, so we all complied, except for Matt, who proceeded to ask why our id was needed, and this and that and how it was a violation of rights and blah blah...

      well finally he gave the officer his ID and was told to just leave, well he decided to be a smartass with a few more comments, ending with a salute and a "Have a good night" comment, at which point the officer turned around, grabbed him and slapped some cuffs on him... now, after a $300 bail and court, he has probation and this and that...

      The point is... yes, even if you are on your own property, if a police officer asks you for an ID, you give it to him. He has every right to do so, especially if he was called to the scene. It's not about race or profiling or whatever the fuck bullshit reason you want to use to justify your feelings of injustice, the fact is you denied an officer's request for ID, when all he was trying to do was respond to a call. If you have nothing to hide, then why be an ass... just to be an ass? Well ask Matt and Henry where that attitude gets you...

    • 2 years ago
  • AreYouKidding
    • 0
      AreYouKidding  

    • Are you Fing kidding me?! They respond to a possible break in, he refuses at first to show cops ID and immediately pulls the race card and is abusive and belligerent. "This is how a black man is treated in America!" You mean, this is how a BLACK HARVARD PROFESSOR in a town with a BLACK MAYOR in a state with a BLACK GOVERNOR in a country with a BLACK PRESIDENT is treated. Poor disadvantaged black man.

      When they came to investigate the possible break in, they would have asked for ID and approached the situation the same no matter what race he was. He should have thanked them for responding to protect his home.

    • 2 years ago
  • freedom765
    • 0
      freedom765  

    • Well of course Gates overeacted too..but think of all the racism he had to overcome in order to beome a Black proffesor,it probably wore him down over the years and caused him to be hypersensitive, and paranoid to racism..it happens

    • 2 years ago
  • sirpaulmcdarkney
    • 0
      sirpaulmcdarkney  

    • I don't believe the tag racist applies to either party. This unfortunate event speaks more to the historically strained relationship between police offers and black males. Mr. Gates may have overreacted but I believe Sgt. Crowley is guilty of it as well. Unfortunate, but not that big a deal in the long run.

    • 2 years ago
  • andyjoe
    • 0
      andyjoe  
    • sirpaulmcdarkney:

      What may have moved this event into "big deal" status is Mr. Gates' fame (and the fact that he's friends with the President).

      Thanks for your comment. Too bad you weren't on hand that night to mediate the exchange between the two... things may have been resolved on the spot.

    • 2 years ago
  • DAVEDUDE
    • 0
      DAVEDUDE  

    • Someone called the police because there were two people with backpacks on a porch & it appeared they were breaking in. The police came & asked Gates to show his ID, he refused & started calling the officer racist
      Sgt James Crowley is the same officer who gave cpr to boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis trying to save his life, he is the same officer who has "led his colleagues in diversity training". The fact is the police showed up to a possible break in & Gates refused to show ID proving it was his house. After he finally did show the officer his ID, Gates started giving him crap calling him a racist. That is when the officer called the Harvard police for backup. The backup did include a black officer. the officer was justified in arresting him, Gates was being disorderly, he's the one who brought up race. If he was polite to the officer & gave his ID nothing would've happened to him. I would expect to be arrested if the police showed up at my house for that reason & asked for my ID & I refused. It's ridiculous. Gates is a racist, p.s. just so you know, when Gates moved to Lexington, he went down to the police station to "show them my black face"...look into it a little, you will see all Gates thinks about is race & officer Crowley is the victim in this case

    • 2 years ago
  • openbrain
    • 0
      openbrain  
    • DAVEDUDE:

      Hey, i dont know Pro. Gates personally so I have no idea if he is racist or not but i do know this... If a police officer is called to a possible breaking & entering/unlawful entry call & sees a person inside of the house that is supposedly being robbed but only arrests the supposed robber for disorderly conduct, the cop obviously knows that was the owner of the house & he arrested purely out of anger... There should never be any reason for a person to be arrested in their own home for an ambiguous charge like disorderly conduct...

    • 2 years ago
  • atomiclegion
  • shana
    • 0
      shana  

    • this is so messed up and disturbing to see such a hero treated like this. i think the best comment i've seen so far was on twitter from Toure, the writer: "He did go on the porch. He did show them his ID. Being loud & indignant in your home is not a crime."

      the police report would be hilarious if it wasn't real. WTF has never been so sadly appropriate a tag for a news item!

    • 2 years ago
more from Community:
from the community

top videos