Stop Already… Obama Defends His Biased Criticism of Cambridge Police Arresting Prof. Henry Gates
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on July 23, 2009
Mr. President, please stop defending your criticism of the police
Mr. President, stop. Just stop.
You didn’t have all the facts when you made your foolish judge-and-jury comment against the Cambridge police, and now you’re digging yourself in deeper. Do your POTUS job and stop acting like a community organizer. Stay out of it, stop meddling. You’re the president, remember?
From ABC News: Obama Defends Criticism of Cambridge Police in Arrest of Gates
President Obama today stood by his comments that the Cambridge, Mass., police department acted “stupidly” in its arrest of Henry Louis Gates, telling ABC News that the Harvard University professor should not have been arrested.
“I have to say I am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement, because I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don’t need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who’s in his own home,” Obama said.
In an exclusive interview with ABC’s Terry Moran to air on “Nightline” tonight, Obama said it doesn’t make sense to him that the situation escalated to the point that Gates was arrested.
“I think that I have extraordinary respect for the difficulties of the job that police officers do,” the president told Moran. “And my suspicion is that words were exchanged between the police officer and Mr. Gates and that everybody should have just settled down and cooler heads should have prevailed. That’s my suspicion.”
The president said he understands the sergeant who arrested Gates is an “outstanding police officer.” But he added that with all that’s going on in the country with health care and the economy and the wars abroad, “it doesn’t make sense to arrest a guy in his own home if he’s not causing a serious disturbance.”
Except that Prof. Henry Louis Gates wasn’t docile or cordial or cooperative with the police as Obama seems to assume.
Prof. Gates was not arrested for not being who he said after showing his identification, or for breaking into and entering his own house. He was arrested for disorderly conduct for mouthing off and acting belligerently during a routine police response call from a neighbor.
He acted stupidly. Much like Pres. Obama is, having no facts about what happened, in this video.
Obama: “Cambridge Police Acted Stupidly” 7/22/09
Prof. Gates’ attorney has admitted that the professor used strong language with the police and that he was hostile to them, accusing them of racial profiling. Obama’s remarks have ignited anger with police officers across the country. Some members of the black community are ignoring Gates’ belligerent behavior and using this incident as a pulpit to decry the Cambridge police on race issues.
It’s going to get uglier before it gets better…
From Sister Toldjah, Why won’t President Obama shut up about the Gates arrest?:
…Except if he’d have read the danged police report, he’d have seen that the issue was a hell of a lot more complicated than how he’s making it out to be. The way he misrepresents the scene and circumstances of the incident in this interview is even more of an indication of how this President knows well how to demagogue an issue when it suits his political purposes.
From JustOneMinute, More On President “Stupidly”, Gates, And Crowley:
…That there is a well-known code of behavior familiar to most minorities who are stopped by the police, Mr. Vivian said, is testament enough of a problem. That is the code known to minorities? Am I the only white guy who has embraced the “Look down and suck up” approach to dealing with cops? Maybe over the years my pale friends have only been faking their humility in recounting their own police stories… With two wars and a faltering health care reform effort, maybe President Stupidly should not be bloviating about local police matters, especially when he does not have the facts.
Additional reading:
Patterico’s Pontifications: The Officer Didn’t Stereotype Henry Louis Gates — Henry Louis Gates Stereotyped the Officer
Wake Up Black America: A Distinguished Gentleman or Distinguished Fool?
Hot Air: How not to win support from police unions; Update: Obama retreats; Update: Bill Cosby “shocked” by Obama’s remarks and Nuance: Cop who arrested Gates is an expert on … racial profiling and Obama: On second thought, it’s totally okay for Congress not to pass ObamaCare by August
African Press International: Fighting for the Black man without having facts on the table: Obama hits at police for arresting black scholar
Clinging to G & G: 30 seconds in and my eyes glaze over
My Country Matters: Monti Says: The “Great Uniter” is nothing but a complete “Divider”!
The Pugnacious Irishman: Acting Stupidly
BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, My Personal Collection of Headlines: Obama remark on black scholar’s arrest angers cops
Gateway Pundit: Bill Cosby “Shocked” At Dear Leader’s Attack on Boston Police Officer
The B.S. Report: Obama: Cambridge Police Acted “Stupidly” In Arrest Of Gates
Frugal Café Blog Zone: The Good & Bad: Sgt. Crowley Won’t Apologize to Gates (Good), Obama Still Making Stupid Remarks about Police (Bad), Pundits Smacking Obama for His Lameness (Good)
Legal Insurrection: Et Tu, Lynn Sweet?
Written on the Wind: Obama opines on Gates arrest
Gadget’s Blog: News Flash: Obama not really black, just full of crap.
Michael McGruther, Big Hollywood: We’ve All Felt a Little ‘Profiled’
JP’s Film Blog: President Obama squanders leadership opportunity
Just Americans Making Ethical Statements Weblog: Before Calling Cambridge Police “Stupid” The President should have read the “Police Report” and Reviewed the Officer’s Background
Fire Andrea Mitchell!: WHITE Police officers are ’stupid’ and ‘racist’ according to Obama
Autographed Letter Signed: Conservative Night Cap: Still Stitching, Still Bitching and Thursday Stitch N’ Bitch: It’s All Black and White To Me
America’s Watchtower: Obama is Feeling the Heat For His Comment About the Cambridge Police
The Smoking Gun: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Police Report -”I’ll speak with your mama outside,” Harvard prof told Cambridge cops
Boston Herald: White House qualifies Obama remark about arrest
Amy Holmes, Big Hollywood: Inside Harvard’s Gates
Mary Katharine Hamm, Weekly Standard: In Which We Gather Facts About the Gates Arrest Before Opining Upon It
Michelle Malkin: The anti-police bigotry of the Left and The “Don’t taze me, bro” moment of Henry Louis Gates and Dr. Obama applies CPR
Rosita the Prole: Was the Harvard Professor Who’s Claiming Police Racism Trying to Get Arrested?
Stop The ACLU: Obama Bashes Police and Doctors and Obama Attacks More Private Citizens During Prime Time Presser
Hick from the Sticks: “The stars are aligned …”
The Uncooperative Bloggers: CNN’s Blitzer Surprised Giuliani Thinks Obama ‘Much Worse’ Than He Thought
ABC EXCLUSIVE: Obama Defends Criticism of Cambridge Police
GOPMom: “Cambridge Cop Says Obama’s ‘Stupidly’ Comment Disappoints Him”
Bloodthirsty Liberal: The Cop Speaks [UPDATED]
American Conservative Daily: Obama Almost Gets It Right on Gates’ Arrest
About the author
[...] Stop Already… Obama Defends His Biased Criticism of Cambridge Police Arresting Prof. Henry Gates
“Lack of information” doesn’t seem to be preventing anyone from the “conservative”
side from commenting on this matter.
The irony here, is that the only thing that really can be concluded is that this arrest was seriously misguided (i.e., STUPID). If you do the legal analysis of taking everything in the arrest affadavit as accurate, while discounting everything Gates say, you still wind up with an arrest that has no public safety rationale. No threat to the cops is there – only the pathetic “I’ll step outside with your Mother” which no-one would mistake for an actual remark about anyone’s mother (if they did, do you want them walking around your town with a gun?).
We don’t have information that lets us conclude that this was racist or not – we don’t
need it. The cop in this case can be the most racially sensitive guy on the planet.
He probably loves puppies. I’m sure he’s overworked and underpaid. I’ll bet Gates was a real AH. We’re still stuck with the arrest of a middle-aged citizen, already known and proved to be the correct occupant of the residence, for no reason that served the safety of the community or the protection of the rights of the members of the community.
Bad news for the civil rights of ALL races.
James Mason is correct. Did anyone actually bother to read the arrest report? Taking it 100% on the level, there was clearly never a case. Gates could have behaved better in his own home, but so what? Crowley could have handled it better, as his own dept admitted (yes, a lot better — the correct procedure per any officer not directly related to this, would be to simply diffuse the situation asap, not escalate it as Crowley did). Yes, Crowley is a human, and all humans make mistakes. But as a public servant, we the people are served much better when our servants own up to their mistakes, not try to defend them.
And it’s funny to see how “conservatives” can be so pro-PC, when it’s suddenly expedient.
-Val
As I’ve written before, any belligerency or non-cooperation, after a police officer has asked for it to stop, can be legally determined to be cause for arrest on the grounds of disorderly conduct. I’ve known a number of folks over the years, male and female, NONE of whom were minorities, who were either arrested or threatened to be arrested, because they were not civil or respondent when asked to be by police officers. I’ve not read the police report, but I have heard the audio of the officer and the 911 call. At the time of the police showing up at Prof. Gates’ home, police were justifiably on alert of a B&E in progress, with a potential for someone to be armed. The home had already had one B&E some weeks earlier. Believe me, if my husband, obscured by darkness, was seen by a neighbor trying to break into our home because he didn’t have a key, and that neighbor, concerned and getting involved, called 911, and officers arrived on the scene, he would have been taken in for disorderly conduct had he behaved as the professor did. Safety first, always. The professor supposedly is “known” by everyone, per interviews I’ve watched. Sorry, never heard of him. But he did not cooperate immediately with ID, and angrily accused Crowley of racially profiling him. It started off adversarially and I place all the blame on the professor.
Don’t know what “pro-PC” is meant in your final sentence. This has nothing to do with political correctness. I do not believe that Crowley made “a mistake.” Nor do many other law enforcement personnel who have been interviewed. However, there will always be opposing views. Being “pro-PC” is in the eye of the beholder, as would “anti-PC.”
I believe the professor acted like a jerk, and the police acted according to their best judgment at the time, per Dept. protocol. Easy to armchair referee after the fact, especially if you’re not there, and I’ve not read anything from police officers to the contrary about Crowley’s decision. This situation was provoked and escalated by the professor, as witnessed by two other officers, and should never have been put in front of television cameras with judge-and-jury proclamation by the president of the United States. It became a media circus because of Obama. So, in all honesty, the situation has exponentially increased because of his butting in where, based on his position as our nation’s leader, he had no business taking sides or getting involved. Stupidity to the max.
Sure, Crowley could have done it differently. But he had to make a quick decision. If the professor was being adversarial and over-the-top threatening to the officers, it isn’t unreasonable to come to the conclusion that he could be a potential danger to himself or others. That seems pretty much cut and dry to me. Had nothing to do with his color, but with his crappy attitude and threats.
Speaking for police, I’ve been one for 33 years, we don’t expect everyone to understand what is going through our minds at these calls. We are taught, in fact it is drilled into us that most things are not what they appear. In this particular instance the “resident” might have a gun to his head when he refuses to co-operate, he might be in violation of a restraining order, hence having to force his way into the home, he might be a middle aged burglar (yes they are out there and we encounter them all the time) who is using his age and appearance to gain an advantage on the responding officer so he can hurt or kill him or her and make an escape. We are taught to watch for red flags such as a person “protesting too much” during times where innocuous explanations are in order. I personally have three “canes” in my office that have double edged blades attached to the handle. When I was a rookie I checked out an elderly couple with another officer and upon seeing that they were elderly we let them go… with a murder victim in the trunk. As far as the “right of arrest” of Dr. Gates, we are peacekeepers and in this particular situation if Dr. Gates had just been yelling at the police it wouldn’t be a big deal to us because our peace (a police officer’s) peace can not be disturbed, that’s our job. What happened in this particular instance was that neighbors and passersby were witnessing a disturbance and tumultuous behavior, hence the arrest. Please don’t judge the validity of the arrest with the decision not to pursue the charges in this particular case because the governor of the state and the mayor of the city intervened. Our minority leaders made the mistake of thinking, in my opinion, that race would trump everything else. They didn’t understand that cops don’t play that game because we rely on each other to survive. Black cops, white cops, male, female, gay, straight, Asian, Hispanic, or whatever else doesn’t matter. We all feel each other’s frustrations and we are beyond that. Bigot cops are shunned for the most part and usually don’t last too long in the job. We have already gone through the growing pains of the new demographics of our personnel and have moved beyond that. We are waiting for everyone else to catch up.
[...] Stop Already… Obama Defends His Biased Criticism of Cambridge Police Arresting Prof. Henry Gates
I first wrote about this on Tues and basically said that Gates was a jack arse.
Now Obama opens his uninformed mouth and inserts his foot in it.
Gates said that Crowley didn’t know who he was messing with.
Perhaps Gates is the one who didn’t know who he was messing with.
Check out my take on it and the link to my Tue post. Also, please stick around for more good content.
http://libertarianhumor.com/2009/07/24/gates-2/
[...] Stop Already… Obama Defends His Biased Criticism of Cambridge Police Arresting Prof. Henry Gates
[...] Stop Already… Obama Defends His Biased Criticism of Cambridge Police Arresting Prof. Henry Gates
Cambridge officials are doing the politically correct thing and bringing in “specialists and authorities” on race relations to mediate and educate everyone about mess. By doing so, they are in essence still blaming the police for this mess. It’s Gates and his ilk that need the “mediation and education.”
When the facts all surface, the only racists in this whole thing will be Gates, Obama and those who have come to Gates defense.
Showing Obama for what he really is, will be a good thing. How the Marxists will spin it, will be interesting to watch and read.
I’ve been a cop for 33 years. Although I can’t speak for all cops, I can speak for most of them. After President Obama’s comments there were a lot of frustrated cops out there and it wasn’t confined to only white male cops. There isn’t a cop that’s been on the job for any period of time, black, asian, hispanic, or white, male or female, gay or straight or any other category you can come up with that didn’t know exactly what took place and didn’t feel the unbelievable frustration of being accused of something that wasn’t true, and taken aback by the appalling ignorance of the public officials as to what we do on a daily basis who are supposed to know better. Most people don’t have a clue what is actually going on in the head of a responding officer to this type of call. We are taught on a daily basis that nothing is as it appears and to assume anything might be a fatal flaw to you and your fellow police officers. That’s why we have to make sure there is no one in the house holding a gun to an unco-operative “victim”, there isn’t a dead body around the corner and so on. We also are aware of the perspective of minorities as it applies to their interaction with police and are fully aware there are differences in body language and responses to questions. It doesn’t matter until we feel that the situation is safe for the responding officer and other officers. We are not as dumb as some people think. We just don’t want to die or be the cause of a brother or sister officer’s death because we don’t ask the right questions or do the right things because it might be personally uncomfortable. Law Enforcement, for the most part, has moved well beyond the race issue. We rely on each other to survive. We feel each other’s frustrations and problems. It was no surprise to cops that black officers, both male and female, came out in support of their sergeant. It was expected because cops know what happened and cops covet courage and honesty and to leave this officer “to the wolves” would have been cowardly and they wouldn’t do that. If he were an ignorant bigot they would have had something else to do that day. Although there will be exceptions for everything, I can feel confident that race relations within the law enforcement community are well ahead of everyone else and we can eagerly wait for others to catch up.
Thank you for sharing so much of what you and other police officers go through. I’m sure it was difficult, as it must resurrect many of the emotions that you must bury in order to accomplish what must be done each day. My uncle was a police officer for many years in Los Angeles and was in the line of fire one time too many. He was ultimately shot and it shattered his leg. He was never the same again. My uncle loved his job, but had to take an early retirement. I don’t think many people understand when they leave to go to work… at the restaurant, the bank, the office, the construction site, the studio, the store, the class room… that in their course of the day, they likely will not encounter someone trying to kill them, nor someone who is trying to kill others. It takes someone with a spine of steel and immense sense of community service to be able to throw himself or herself into harm’s way each day to protect the rights and lives of others. I have so much admiration and respect for those who do this for our cities and states. For our country, as our military does.
I have always had tremendous respect for police officers. When someone feels compelled to say, after THEY or a friend or family member has been arrested for breaking the law, that a police officer is being arrogant or power hungry or abusive, that they usually are exaggerating the situation because the same personality flaws that motivate someone to not respect the rights of others also makes them less likely to reflect on the childish actions they’ve chosen to take and how it takes it toll on others. They don’t care. They never accept responsibility nor blame for what has happened… it is always someone else’s fault. Normal law-abiding people aren’t like this. And few people will ever thank an officer for arresting them, for stopping them from their criminal activity. Quite the opposite.
Regarding race, I totally agree with you. In LA, my uncle worked side by side with all races, both on the force and in the community. Someone who is a racist doesn’t survive for long, just as you said.
Thank you for your input, dear friend.