Black Harvard Professor arrested after breaking into his own home?

This should happen as soon as possible -- it really should.

 

Notice the italics and my previous posts.

My point was this. T_J has said in the past that blacks should expect to be profiled because of crime and behavioral patterns. Let's say Gates has been subject to this profiling in the past, I don't know that he has or has not. If he has, wouldn't CometsWin's statement have some merit though when going by that standard?

 

^

Ok...that was funny.

 

I saw the coverage of the beer summit and frankly I thought this was ridiculous and distracting for the President of the United States. I can understand Obama wanting to retract, or 'recalibrate', his original statement but he doesn't have to act as a mediator or have a get together to mend hurt feelings with Officer Crowley and Dr. Gates.

One of the strengths of Obama is that he likes to think and relate to people on a personal basis but that is also one of his weakness. In Dreams of My Fathers he talks about how he has a falling out with the person who got him into community organizing because that person seemed to be more interested in big picture issues rather than dealing with people on a individual level. Dealing with people on an individual level is great but as President he has to look at the big picture and not get bogged down trying to resolve this issue personally.

Also why was Biden there? Did he just drop by because he wanted to join in in happy hour, there to lend moral support, or trying to capitalize on a photo op? A situation like this was unnecessary for the president or vice president to be involved in.

 

I think Biden was the netertainment

 

Biden sliding in there was absolute gold. You know Obama was like, 'what in the **** is he doing here -- how did he get a ticket to the three man march?'

 

No. I just sound like I see the police treating Asians like crap too. A police officer can be belligerent and an a-hole without making an arrest. So you can't just use stats to show that police officers profile Asians and Indians in a positive manner.

As for whether or not racial profiling is justified, my own opinion is that in theory, it is justified IF it leads to less wrongful arrests and higher efficiency in the police office. Of course, this doesn't really work in real life.

 

I think he was there for racial balance. Maybe he was their to make Crowley more comfortable, I don't know. This whole situation has been a bunch of BS imo.

 

Oh wow, that's freakin' brilliant. No really. Truly epic.

I got another one for ya. I was once mugged by a black person. So I see a black person, with his baggy pants, baseball cap on backwards, tattoo, seems as if he's following me, I get scared, pulls out a gun and blow his head off.

Now obviously I was totally justified. He deserved it. Me an upstanding citizen was only drawing from past experience and protecting myself.

 

You have truly grasped the concept of institutional racism and its effects.

 

This could go on forever, but let me add this. Mr gates was wrong in allowing the situation to become explosive. There is a point and time for everything. He should have taken been polite and let the cops roll then file a complaint if he had one. Another thing is i think mr gates have been under a rock because no mater what you do or where yu live, to think you don't get proiled is ignorance. To the many with comments that are not black, some of the stuff police make you do because you're black, you will never understand. I mean it doesn't matter what part of the country or what subdivision, when you get stopped and you're black, its different. I could go down the list of times i have been stopped for no reason with no suspicion and you kinda become numb to it.

 

As was the cop. Both sides screwed up here and allowed it to escalate, and either could have stopped it. The cop, however, is professionally trained in that - civilians are not.

So the proper response to that is to simply accept it? If he was treated differently because he was black (I don't think he was), then he has every right to stand up and yell and complain about it.

 

This mirrors my own thoughts. Too bad I can't give you rep points until I give more out.

 

Skipping past the drama, did the officer have a right to enter in the house? Let me draw on another example;

I call in a false emergency call stating someone is breaking into my neighbors house. The call is then dispatched to an officer, who of course, is completely oblivious to everything other than what dispatch has told him. Upon arrival, he see's no signs of a crime being committed. Does the officer have a right to enter into the home? It was explained to me that unless the officer witnesses or has immediate evidence of a crime, then he is required to have a warrant.

Did the officer enter into Gates home illegally? I do not believe he intentionally broke the law, but I do think he could have handled it more appropriately. I don't condone an office stepping his bounds, but karma got the best of Gates.

 

That's why Gates was acting the way he did. Because he thought that the officer entered his house without any reason to nor invitation.

 

How so? Did the cop exercise institutional racism and you (or Gates) have evidence as to so? Because if you do, all you have to do is prove it...

And Gates "40 years of experience as a black man" doesn't matter one goddam bit in this case, because it is irrelevant. All that matters is what happened between James Crowley and Henry Louis Gates Jr, in that house, on that day. Whatever happened to Gates in the past is his problem. Otherwise, my "past experience with blacks" is just as relevant in my supposed robbery-belief encounter.

Here is what I find funny though. I mean, just about every (I assume) black poster supporting Gates here claim all cops are powertrips/a-holes/corrupt/whatever out to get them. Hell, we even have people like GladiatoRowdy tossing out evidence given by a black officer because he's not surprised the black officer won't "cross the blue."

How ironic, a supporter for a supposed racial profiling/stereotype victim doing a little stereotype/profiling of his own. If that's the case, obviously the stereotype for blacks also should be accepted. Obviously blacks are all violent criminals.

 

Im not giving Gates a free pass to go about with his racial tirade. Pulling the race card in the heat of the moment never produces good results.

I do believe the officer was acting in his best interest. What if there was a break-in and Gates was assaulted after the officer would left due to no evidence of crime? You know damn good and well Gates would be suing the PD.

 

I'm not trying to let Gates off the hook for his behavior which was out of line, but a lot of what you say here is just plain wrong. 40 years of Gates experience as a black man is relevant, and not just his problem. That's everyone's problem. When something is unfair, and has even been coded into law then it is society's problem. Until you can show evidence that GAtes or anyone else believes all cops are on power trips then that claim of yours means nothing.

 

Just to add something else that might explain Gates' reaction.
Gates from both accounts seemed to get upset that the Officer didn't show him identification. While the officer gave him his name he didn't give a badge number or show other ID. Its possible that Dr. Gates might have suspicions about the identity of the Officer Crowley and whether he was really an officer.

Even if he accepted right away that Officer Crowley was who he said he was the following article shows why its not a bad idea to ask for ID from an in your house.


http://www.startribune.com/local/we...c3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

Wisconsin couple shot, wounded by intruder pretending to be deputy

A search of the victims' home turned up "a quantity of mar1juana," a sheriff's deputy in St. Croix County said. He added that the break-in did not appear to be random.

A Wisconsin couple were shot and wounded late Saturday in their home by an intruder who was pretending to be a sheriff's deputy, the St. Croix County Sheriff's Department reported Sunday.

Tom Erickson of Wilson, Wis., was shot once in the stomach and was listed in stable condition at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, said Chief Deputy John Shilts. Erickson's wife, Maria Erickson, was shot in the calf and was not hospitalized, he said.

The couple's 3-year-old child, who was in the house at the time of the shooting, was not injured, authorities said.

Shilts said the suspect demanded money and drugs. A small amount of mar1juana was in plain sight in the home at the time of the break-in and deputies' subsequent search of the house turned up "a quantity of mar1juana" that Shilts said was more than what would be considered for personal use.

The information will be turned over to the St. Croix County district attorney for possible charges, he said.

The break-in happened about 11 p.m. Saturday at the Erickson home on Main Street in Wilson, which Shilts said has about 200 residents.

The suspect broke in through the front door. The couple woke up as he was rummaging through their house, Shilts said.

The intruder was wearing camouflage pants, a dark T-shirt that said "Sheriff" on it, a baseball cap, and a bandana or mask over his face. He was armed with a rifle, possibly a .22-caliber, Shilts said. The man forced the couple to lay on the ground, then pretended to call for backup from the department by talking into something attached to his shoulder.

The couple quickly became suspicious, especially when the man did not produce a badge when the couple requested. Shilts said Tom Erickson got off the floor and began wrestling with the suspect, who fired four or five shots.

One bullet hit Tom Erickson in the stomach and another bullet hit his wife in the leg.

Shilts said it did not appear that anything was taken. As of late Sunday afternoon, no arrests had been made.

"This is certainly very rare for us," Shilts said of the break-in and shootings.

Heron Marquez Estrada • 612-673-4280