@McGentrix,
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All arrests? No, just this one. The cops did not drop the charges, the DA office did. It's not up to the cops to drop charges, merely make the arrest and prove the case. I think that if/when they release the tapes of the 911 call and the dispatch conversations that the truth will come out of Mr gates proving himself to be a jerk.
Do you think it's common, for DA's to drop charges for which there is compelling reason to believe the person is guilty? I assure you, it is not.
Let me make it perfectly clear, that I do believe Gates was acting like a jerk. Now, he claims he was intimidated by the officer's behavior and demeanor; I can totally see that being the case. But that's really immaterial. It's not against the law to be a jerk to a cop, in one's own home, when the cop has no reason to believe you have committed a crime. After Mr. Gates showed the cop his ID, that should have been the end of it - no matter whether Gates was being a jerk or not.
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Yes, I read it. He skips a lot of what officer Crowley said in his report. I am sure he believes himself to be an innocent victim. Most perps do.
Just as most cops believe that they are in the right.
I would note that Crowley's account is much longer and more detailed than the police report; the police report glosses over a bunch of events and wraps the whole thing up in a few paragraphs.
I would ask you to answer this question - why would the cop refuse to provide his name and badge number? To the best of my knowledge, cops are usually required to provide this information when requested by a citizen. It is a long-standing tradition here in America that we do not have faceless, nameless police. The refusal on the part of the officer to do so without a doubt represents a failure of duty on his part - which was stupid.
In fact, In Massachusetts, officers are required by law to provide an identification card when requested by citizens. Crowley failed to do this.
http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/41-98d.htm
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It's Gates that has made this an issue about Race, not conservatives. We have enough reasons to attack the democrats that this one barely registers beyond Obama's participation in the matter. He should have had something on his teleprompter telling him what to say. I am sure that if Bush had said something similar you libbies would be jumping all over him and don't try to deny it.
The cop is an expert in the concept of racial profiling. He teaches it and has studied it. Gates picked the wrong cop at the wrong time to play his race card.
You weren't there, you have no idea what the cop said or did, or his attitude towards Gates. The fact that he has a history of teaching about racial profiling is immaterial; Gates has a history of infuriating other Black academics by defending whites in situations such as this. Are we to believe, that based on Gates' history, he could not possibly be guilty of anything wrong in this case?
I think a lot of this speaks to the difference in experience between Blacks and Whites when it comes to dealing with police in America. Whereas you or I probably would have been much less intimidated in such a situation, it is not inconceivable that a black man would have had different experiences and would feel differently about such things.
To sum it up:
- Gates presented his ID, with address on it, so that really should have been the end of that.
- The cop, according to Gates, acted in an intimidating manner and refused to identify himself when requested. How was Gates to even know that the guy was a real cop? This is a major failing on the part of the officer.
- Gates proceeded to act like a real jerk and escalate the situation, which may or may not have had anything to do with race, we'll never know.
- The officer, angry at being yelled at, used a false pretense to arrest Gates for no good reason. They should have just left the premises; there was no compelling reason to arrest Gates other than the hurt feelings of the officer. This is an abuse of power, and as Obama stated, 'Stupid.'
You state,
Quote:Gates picked the wrong cop at the wrong time to play his race card.
But, that's bullshit. It is immaterial what Gates said to the officer. He could have ranted about the officer being motivated by aliens or anything similarly foolish. None of that is reason to arrest him on false pretenses, and that is exactly why he was let go by the DA just a few hours later.
Cycloptichorn
