Officer suspended for Gates slur in e-mail

[kpete]

Source: Boston Globe

Officer suspended for Gates slur in e-mail
July 29, 2009 07:35 PM

By Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent

An officer in the Boston Police Department was suspended yesterday for allegedly writing a racially charged e-mail about Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. to colleagues at the National Guard, a law enforcement official said. Mayor Thomas M. Menino compared the officer to a cancer and said he is "gone, g-o-n-e'' from the force.

The law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Officer Justin Barrett referred to the black scholar as a " jungle monkey" in the letter, written in reaction to media coverage of Gates's arrest July 16.

Barrett, a 36-year-old who has been on the job for two years, was stripped of his gun and badge yesterday and faces a termination hearing in the next week, said police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll. He has no previous disciplinary record, she said.

"Yesterday afternoon, Commissioner Davis was made aware that Officer Barrett was the author of correspondence which included racially charged language," she said. "At that time, Commissioner Davis immediately stripped Officer Barrett of his gun and badge, and at this time we will be moving forward with the hearing process."

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/07/officer_suspend.html

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Good. Barrett's not fit for the job. n/t

[Xipe Totec]

2. You can make fun of Mumbles Menino,

but when it comes to taking action, he doesn't mince words.

Good on you, Mayor!

[fascisthunter]

3. he should be fired

if I got caught sending racist emails around my job place, I would be fired.

I don't want my tax dollars paying this piece of shit's salary.

[SkyDaddy7]

4. Watch and see...

Cops do not get fired they are forced to "resign" and that allows them to apply and get hired as cop with another agency...I bet that is what happens here!

You are 110% correct he should be FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fascisthunter]

16. true SkyDaddy7...

[saigon68]

40. This racist POS will be PROTECTING someone else soon

Take that to the Bank

[Fearless]

5. Good. As well he should be.

[Cha]

6. One of the comments below the article

summed up my feelings.. "How dumb can someone be"

Did the National Guard turn him in?

[Alcibiades]

7. You see, you see! That's what Gates was talking about!

OK, this was Boston, not Cambridge, but the question is this: is this officer a Republican?

I bet he is.

[tblue37]

11. Notice the Republican talking points in his email:

"secure our freedoms and borders," "limit and reduce my taxes," "the right to celebrate God and beliefs."

(Yeah, pal, we've got your number all right.)

Notice too the innumerable errors in grammar and usage. (This from a man who claims to be a former English teacher. Apparently he was as bad at that as he is at being a cop.)

[Bgno64]

37. Republican???

Of course he's a damned Republican, this cop is Full Metal Wingnut.

Not only the talking points, but the OUTRAGE!!! I'm telling you right now, this dude is a Fox News devotee. He PERSONIFIES the attitude - "I am not a racist" followed by racism, honor the military because we - I! - am the only reason you have any freedoms, which should be revoked anyway. The barely concealed rage; the half-submerged violent impuluses (him wanting to slap the original writer).

It's all right there. This is a veritable Picasso of wingnuttery, and the very thing that must be defeated in this country if this country is ever to move forward.

[paulsby]

8. good . assuming this was done via dept. email

that would definitely be a fireable offense. it's a typically awfully written article (welcome to the mainstream media) because it doesn't answer the most important question. was the email sent via dept. email. if so, it's Clearly an egregious offense. if not, i would argue the officer had a first amendment right to make such statements, assuming he did not represent his statements as in any way representing his agency, merely his personal beliefs. there's a fair amount of case law in this regards.

[gvstn]

9. As the mayor says, "He is G-O-N-E"

Department computer or not! You can't be arrested for speech but there can be employment consequences. Copy of email below:

[MadMaddie]

10. He uses jungle monkey not once but several time

This guy should be fired, what does he do to minority or women suspects? It would be interesting to see his record.

[scarface2004]

14. this is one sick deranged pud....

jackass has issues....better be g o n e!!!

[Skipperoo]

15. That is one angry dude! n/t

[Vinca]

45. If this character was a former English teacher, that explains

why "our childrens isn't learning."

[8 track mind]

12. And people wonder why i have a low opinion of police officers.

and just today as i was driving home from work a cop turns around and decides to follow me. I drive a chevy cargo van that i've turned into a bit of a hot rod. I wasn't speeding, hell i was sitting at a stop light for crying out loud, and the fucker did a 180 and decides to follow me. He never did anything and i can only assume he was running my tags. F-ing pig.....

[cosmicone]

13. There should be a national cop database

so that cops cannot go from job to job, perpetuating brutality, racism and evidence-fixing.

The database could be named eDoughnut.

[sunnybrook]

17. This just in: Officer Barrett is not a racist

Source: CNN

A Boston police officer who sent a mass e-mail referring to Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. as a "banana-eating jungle monkey" has apologized, saying he's not a racist.

Officer Justin Barrett told a Boston television station on Wednesday night that he was sorry for the e-mail.

"I regret that I used such words," Barrett told CNN affiliate WCVB-TV. "I have so many friends of every type of culture and race you can name. I am not a racist."

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/30/gates.police.apology/#cnnSTCVideo

---

We know this because he said so! Check the video where he claims to always treat people with respect! And his lawyer really cleared things up by saying that Officer Barrett did not refer to Henry Louis Gates as a "jungle monkey" but said his "behavior" was like that of a jungle monkey! Wow now I understand, I had taken his comments out of context!!

[alcibiades_mystery]

18. LBN has very specific rules for titling threads

Please hold to them. Alerted.

[sunnybrook]

19. OK I am trying to change it back

to the original boring title but the edit function won't let me change

[sunnybrook]

20. I moved this to GDP

[sui generis]

21. woops wrong reply

nevermind - :blush:

[saigon68]

22. Nice flame bait thread == CNN U-Tube Story

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/29/justin-barrett-boston-pol_n_247405.html

[harmonicon]

23. if arguing whether or not "jungle-monkey" is racist starts a flame war....

this place is full of even more racists than I thought.

[saigon68]

31. My point exactly

Not that many Racists who live here, but TROLLS WHO COME TO VISIT from Rim Jobs Cesspool

[No Elephants]

24. Behaved like a jungle monkey vs. is a jungle monkey? Isn't that a lot like

the Cambridge PD acted stupidly versus the Cambridge PD is stupid? Except, of course, "stupidly" applies to any race, whereas "jungle monkey" is used to describe only one race.

Apparently, these things only work one way--in favor of racists.

[redqueen]

25. OMFG! He's as racist as hell! Some excerpts from his email...

Full text here:

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/justin_barrett_full_email_072909

"That paragraph was as pathetic as jungle monkey jibberish - I might as well ax you the question..."

"You are a hot little bird with minimal experiences in a harsh field. You are a fool. An infidel. You have no business writing for a US newspaper ... You should serve me coffee and donuts on Sunday morning."

"Famous for what? Expert why and says who? What has he done for me and my family? What has he done for the law enforcement community or military veterans or to secure freedoms and our borders in this country? What has he done to help limit and reduce my income tax?"

"Your final statement reads, "Gates, whose great success has allowed him to transcend the racial divide-" to which I ask, when did he transcend? He indeed has transcended back to a bumbling jungle monkey, thus he forever tremains (sic) amid this nation's great social/racial divide that makes it a free and great nation mixed with crazy and awkward differences. Go ahead, ax me what I think?"

"Your article titl(missing from image) should read CONDUCT UNBECOMING A JUNGLE-MONKEY BACK TO ONE'S ROOTS."

DAMN!

[ejbr]

26. Well, I'm glad he cleared that up.

:sarcasm:

[urgk]

27. He seems to be with the District 3-B. Here's their contact info. --

"Barrett is assigned to District B-3. He was placed on administrative leave pending a termination hearing."

District B-3
1165 Blue Hill Avenue Dorchester, MA 02124-3914
Telephone: [phone]
Commander: Captain James Claiborne

It goes without saying, but if you call, be reasoned, passionate and convincing. The good commander of 3-B should know that people whose character they find unassailable find this racist nonsense entirely unacceptable.

[Deep13]

28. Comparing Black humans to monkeys is no longer racist--gotcha.

:wtf:

[sarah FAILIN]

30. butbutbut.. he's got black friends..

Doesn't that give him the right to call black people jungle monkeys? Remember, he's got black friends...

[sarah FAILIN]

43. I forgot what happens when you put something in parenthesis..

The rest of that post said that "he's got black friends" means that when he was in school he loaned a black kid a pencil one time...

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Gotcha

[hedgehog]

33. Clearly this man needs to be put back on the police force ASAP -

lest he return to his previous profession of English teacher!

[proud2BlibKansan]

44. LOL!

:rofl:

[Blue_Tires]

41. wannabe tough guy...

[rocktivity]

32. And Obama never said that Crowley was stupid.

In fact, he didn't even say that Crowley acted stupidly!

:P
rocktivity

[GreenEyedLefty]

34. "I am not a racist, but..."

When you hear those words, prepare for some seriously racist shit.

[Dollface]

35. Is this in contrast to a Reuben-eating city monkey? Or an Oxycontin-eating radio monkey?

[AlbertCat]

36. Yeah... but what I wanna know is..is Officer Barrett gay?

[Deep13]

38. Let's review, shall we?

Calling a Black person a monkey = racist

jungle bunny = racist

banana-eating jungle monkey = NOT racist.

Got it?

[RamboLiberal]

39. Just heard on news he's supposed to be on Larry King tonight

The cop that emailed this racial slur.

[Critters2]

46. What the hell could he POSSIBLY have to say that anyone wants to listen to?

God, I hate Larry King.

[defendandprotect]

42. Suspended . . . ?? This guy is a time bomb waiting to go off . . .

Wow -- that's one of the worst signs I've seen yet that these are the kind

of people our police departments are intentionally hiring and seeking to keep!!!

How desperate are they?