Once Gates Showed His ID, The Police Should Have Left Him Alone

[Yavin4]

They acted stupidly. End of story.

No matter what Gates said.

[seabeyond]

1. period. the end. it was done. no more. no questions. and then give id and name

cops are suppose to. then it would have been done .... again

it was the cops all the way

i agree

[sandnsea]

13. That's how I see it

It just blows my mind that anybody could see it any other way.

[Duckhunter935]

2. I was not there

Do not know all of the facts, just two opposing accounts.

[Yavin4]

6. Then Why Did The Police Drop The Charges

Why aren't they pursuing this?

As a DUer, you should be alarmed that cops arrested someone in their own home AFTER they provided ID, White or Black.

[Duckhunter935]

12. and they released him and are doing an internal investigation

I will wait for more facts before I jump to conclusions.

[Yavin4]

22. What More Facts Do You Need?

You want CSI Cambridge to take a blue light over Gate's house? The fucking cop even acknowledged that he saw the ID. Once he sees the ID, say good night and leave.

[Duckhunter935]

32. This is part of them, facts -- thanks hfojvt

http://www.amnation.com/vfr/Police%20report%20on%20Gates%20arrest.PDF

[Tangerine LaBamba]

23. Same here -

it's always entertaining to watch people leap and fall all over themselves as they land on their conclusions, so certain that they know what happened, because, of course, you can always believe what you're told. By anyone.

There's a reason why courts don't allow hearsay. Think about it.

Clearly, not many learned a thing from the Duke lacrosse rape case, which is kind of sad. After all, we're supposed to be liberals, right?

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. Something else happened in the house -

I read Gates' account at theroot, and he simply glided over one exchange. It happened before the cop went outside and left Gates in the house.

Something's missing.

Hardly "end of story." The police are conducting an internal investigation - that should be interesting.

And please don't start with how cops always lie. Not now...............

[seabeyond]

4. cop knew it was his house and proceeded to ask a question. gates refused

there was no need to ask any questions. it was over. it was his house. he didnt have to answer. then he asked for cop id and cop refused to give name and id. he has to. and he didnt

[ColbertWatcher]

15. Technically, asking a question is a not always a bad thing.

Suppose there was some problem in the house and the cop could have prevented it by asking the question?

Nevertheless, there are ways to not escalate a situation.

[seabeyond]

19. regardless. so what. he refused, as he is allowed to do. doesnt matter

justifying the question. gates did not have to answer

then gates asks for id and name and cop refused. cop has to give that info. again.... cop fucked up

[Duckhunter935]

28. If you read the sworn statement in the report

The officer did supply that information at least twice and possibly a third time also.

And since all cops lie, the officer that was a witness also lied

[ColbertWatcher]

30. I agree with you; the cop fucked up.

What I'm trying to say is that calls to a person's home are always emotionally charged. The cop should have known this.

If the cop genuinely wanted to check to make sure there weren't people inside injured (or whatever), there are ways to do it without being an asshole.

I know that every honest cop's fear is that they walk away from a situation only to find out later that it wasn't what they were told it was, and if only they had asked that one question they could have prevented a tragedy.

That's what I meant by "not escalating" the situation.

[Duckhunter935]

7. I assume something in the middle

and both parties did some things that in hindsight and clearer thinking were wrong.

[Captain Hilts]

36. I agree. The cop was FAR more wrong, though. Arresting a man that age in his own house.

But it sounds like Gates didn't offer up his i.d. promptly or started a dialogue of some kind.

You don't engage in a dialogue with a cop who wants to see your i.d.

[Fuzz]

8. You mean the part where he should have said 'thank you masta' and

kissed his ass?


Edit:

Yes, it was over the top.

[HughMoran]

20. Uh Uh Uh

Oh no you dint!

(I see you realize the over the top nature, so I'm just joking with you :) )

[Xipe Totec]

10. Based on my experience with cops

It's all about dominance.

[seabeyond]

14. my experience too. with strong majority. a couple not... but jsut a couple. n/t

[Yavin4]

17. We're A Nation of Laws, Not A Nation of Cops

White or Black, you should be alarmed that cops arrested a man AFTER he showed them ID. There was no need to arrest him. None. None whatsoever.

I don't hate cops, but I don't love them either. They're human beings like all of us. Yes, they have a tough job, but that does not give them license to do whatever the hell they want.

Once the ID was produced, the encounter should have ended. The cops should have left. Say "Good Day" and fucking leave.

[elocs]

5. They should have left him alone and Gates should have been happy they at least checked,

and that should have been the end of it and none of us would be posting about it now.

[seabeyond]

9. standing on porch in middle of day with luggage all around and that is a suspected burglary?

i would already be working on mad.

cop got id and saw his home. cop should have left. he didnt....

[rug]

11. I agree but they should have showed Gates their ID before they left.

[HughMoran]

16. Agreed. Period.

This was not necessary and Professor Gates was NOT the agressor in this case.

[hfojvt]

18. according to the police report, that;s what he did

http://www.amnation.com/vfr/Police%20report%20on%20Gates%20arrest.PDF

"With Harvard University Identification in hand, I radioed my findings to ECC and prepared to leave."

[Yavin4]

21. "Prepare to Leave" Not Leave

He should have left after he saw the ID.

[seabeyond]

24. he had already decided he would arrest the man and had to get him outside.

even in the report it shows the cop isnt straight

[Karenina]

26. Bingo!

[hfojvt]

35. the report does leave out that he walked into the house

but in your view then, the cop should not have left the home?

He said he couldn't report back because acoustics were bad and Gates was yelling at him. Does dispatch have anything on tape? Probably not since it was radio rather than phone call. But the dispatch might have heard yelling if there was yelling.

The officer did what he did in front of plenty of witnesses.

[hfojvt]

31. walk away when somebody is still talking to you?

Isn't that kinda rude?

[Duckhunter935]

27. Thank you very informitive

[Blue Diadem]

37. You left out the last sentence of the prior paragraph regarding his ID.

"Upon learning that Gates was affiliated with Harvard, I radioed and requested the presence of the Harvard University Police."

He goes on to say his reason for wanting to leave the residence was due to his wanting to transmit info to ECC and other responding units. He wanted Mr. Gates outside.

[tabasco]

25. Absolutely right.

In military terminology, it was time to unass the AO, post haste.

[ms liberty]

29. Agreed. And furthermore...

Regardless of what actually did happen - if, in fact, he had become agitated or belligerent, the reaction of the police officers should have been to work to DEFUSE the situation.

[ColbertWatcher]

33. Thank you. That's what I've been trying to say! n/t

[BlooInBloo]

34. You forgot the "duh" on the end.

:)

[Liberal In Texas]

38. Agreed.

They should have seen it was his house, and no matter what he was saying or fuming or screaming or whatever, said have a nice day, and left.

[backscatter712]

39. It's your classic sleazy cop tactic.

Act like a prick, provoke the person you're questioning, act belligerently, be a total asshole, and as soon as the person says something as innocuous as "What's your problem?", arrest him for disorderly conduct, exaggerate in the arrest report to make it look like an episode of COPS, and send him to jail failing to Respect His Authoritah...

[Wednesdays]

40. K&R

Here's a good case where the Faux News "Fair & Balanced" mentality is put to rest. The one where both sides of an argument deserve equal consideration--even though one side's argument is absurd, trivial, or irrelevant.

The notion that "There are two sides of the story, then there's the truth" doesn't always apply, and it certainly doesn't apply in this case.

:kick: