Like President Obama and Gov. Patrick, I am not in possession of all the facts surrounding the arrest of Dr. Henry Gates in Cambridge.I am, however, in possession of Sgt. Crowley's report of the incident as it has been republished in the newspapers.
Even if you take Sgt. Crowley entirely at his word and believe everything he says, there is no defense for his arrest of Dr. Gates.
According to Sgt. Crowley's own report, he had already concluded that Dr. Gates was the owner of the house prior to placing him under arrest.
According to Sgt. Crowley, Dr. Gates was not engaging in any behavior that involved anyone other than Sgt. Crowley.
According to Sgt. Crowley's own report, Dr. Gates had at no time attempted to make any physical contact with Sgt. Crowley.
Even if you believe absolutely every word of Sgt. Crowley's report, it is clear that whatever tumultuous speech act Dr. Gates may have been conducting would have ended had Sgt. Crowley simply departed. There is nothing in the report that indicates that Dr. Gates was a danger or even an inconvenience to anyone else.
The inescapable conclusion is that that Henry Gates was arrested for mouthing off to an officer.
For seven years I was employed in law enforcement, as a guard at a hospital and as a campus police officer. During those years I had to deal with many unhappy and loud people. I never arrested any of them.
Obama had it right. This arrest was beyond stupid.
2 comments:
Absolutely, out in some zone beyond stupidity, some out field, high weeds. This is a cop who teaches classes on Racial Profiling--was he demonstrating? For what audience? What can you say: this one's a gift....
You know it--It was ridiculous but, as many have said, not unusual at all...
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