Black Harvard professor arrested at his own house

[Miss Chicken]

Yeah, black man is arrested. It MUST be racial!

A black man was arrested after he proved that no ctime had taken place.

The police were in the right to investigate the report of someone breaking in to the house but should have left as soon as the man proved he was the owner.

Alsothe officer should have given his name and badge number when requested.

 

[David cgc]

. Especially for throwing the "do you know who I am?" card.

"No, and why the fuck should we CARE who you are?" is usually the preferred response in that case.

"Because this is my goddamn house!" is probably how I would've proceeded from that point. It's a bit of a trump-card when accused of breaking and entering.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

Yeah, black man is arrested. It MUST be racial!

A black man was arrested after he proved that no ctime had taken place.

The police were in the right to investigate the report of someone breaking in to the house but should have left as soon as the man proved he was the owner.

Alsothe officer should have given his name and badge number when requested.

"Gates yelled at the officer, refused to calm down and behaved in a tumultuous" manner." That's why he was arrested. Not because he is black.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Yeah, black man is arrested. It MUST be racial!

A black man was arrested after he proved that no ctime had taken place.

The police were in the right to investigate the report of someone breaking in to the house but should have left as soon as the man proved he was the owner.

Alsothe officer should have given his name and badge number when requested.

"Gates yelled at the officer, refused to calm down and behaved in a tumultuous" manner." That's why he was arrested. Not because he is black.

None of which was arrestable behaviour after he had proved that he was the owner of the house.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

. Especially for throwing the "do you know who I am?" card.

"No, and why the fuck should we CARE who you are?" is usually the preferred response in that case.

"Because this is my goddamn house!" is probably how I would've proceeded from that point.

You don't talk that way to the cops.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I once told cops "to fucking get off my property" because I was in the right and they were in the wrong and I was very upset with their behaviour.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

A black man was arrested after he proved that no ctime had taken place.

The police were in the right to investigate the report of someone breaking in to the house but should have left as soon as the man proved he was the owner.

Alsothe officer should have given his name and badge number when requested.

"Gates yelled at the officer, refused to calm down and behaved in a tumultuous" manner." That's why he was arrested. Not because he is black.

None of which was arrestable behaviour after he had proved that he was the owner of the house.

That's patently ridiculous. If you are uncivil you are breaching the peace. Hence, he was arrested.

 

[TheBrew]

"Gates yelled at the officer, refused to calm down and behaved in a tumultuous" manner." That's why he was arrested. Not because he is black.

None of which was arrestable behaviour after he had proved that he was the owner of the house.

That's patently ridiculous. If you are uncivil you are breaching the peace. Hence, he was arrested.

He was on his property! He should be able to harass whomever he wants until they get off of it.

 

[Miss Chicken]

None of which was arrestable behaviour after he had proved that he was the owner of the house.

That's patently ridiculous. If you are uncivil you are breaching the peace. Hence, he was arrested.

He was on his property! He should be able to harass whomever he wants until they get off of it.

Precisely. It was his own property and no crime had been committed.

I wasn't arrested when I swore at and ordered a cop off my property because I was totally in the right and rather than admit it one of the police officers decided to make some comments to me over something that was none of his business.

EDITED TO ADD - the story of what happened.

In the street I formally lived in the first house in the street (no 2) faced into the next street and most people that no 4 was no 2 and then counting up the street my house No 10 was often thought to be No 8 despite the fact that the number 10 was on my letter box.

The cops came to arrest the guy at No 8. I was sitting in lounge of the woman across the road. Her son and my youngest son were playing spotlight with a torch on my front lawn. From my neighbour's lounge we had a full view of my front lawn and we could see the boys better than we could if we were sitting in my house.

The police asked my son where his father was. My son said he didn't have a father. I was walking down the steps of my neighbours house unseen by the policemen. The policeman asked my son where his mother was and my son said at the neighbour. The policeman made a comment "why isn't that surprising?". By this time I was behins the officer and asked what he was wanted, He said He was looking for Peter Nicholson. I told him he had the wrong house than I was no 10 not number 8.

Rather than just apologising for the mistake the policeman started to tell me off for letting my children play outside after dark (it was no yet 7pm) and for being over at my neighbours instead of looking after my children. I told him to get the "Fuck off my property and not to concern himself with stuff that was none of his business".

 

[Teelie]

Once again it's assumed he was arrested for being black. Can a man not be arrested for any other reason? I think I stated several plausible, non-racial reasons it could've happened. But no, any time a black man is arrested, it's racist to do so, regardless of the circumstances. The man was an asshole, the cop was an asshole, there was a lot of anger and a bad judgment call based in anger, not race.

And again, had the arresting officer been black, would we hear about this? Would it be a racist arrest? Or would it just be another unjustifiable arrest that had zero reason to do with race? It's quick, convienent and easy to just play "white cop = racist" though because we all know that's the only reason he was arrested is he's black.

This is beyond ridiculous, but why am I trying to propose an alternate perspective when it's clear the only perspective is racism is involved?

 

[Gertch]

So really the way this should have gone down is the cop asking Gates why it appeared he was breaking in to a house, Gates telling the cop that he lives there and showing his identification and then everyone going on their merry way.

Too bad that didn't happen, sounds like one or both of them decided to be an idiot. My money's on Gates, after reading his report of things he comes off like an asshole.

Agreed.

I heard a report today, that I can't find online, that the reason he had to lean into his door to get in was because of a break-in two weeks previous.

 

[Teelie]

Nah, it's easier to call the cop racist.

 

[Servo]

Just saw coverage of Obama's press conference on the BBC news channel. Some reporter asked him what he thought about this, and he said that the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" in arresting a guy who had just proved he was in his own home. He did start to elaborate on how this was indicitive of race relations in the US, but the moron BBC correspondant started talking over the top, and I couldn't tell what he was saying.

 

[Gertch]

What a surprise our ass of a president was talking out of his. He should shut up if he doesn't have the facts. But The Divider strikes again.

 

[Servo]

What a surprise our ass of a president was talking out of his. He should shut up if he doesn't have the facts. But The Divider strikes again.

I watched all the conference, and his ideas for financial and healthcare reforms sound pretty good. He even credited the Republicans for one of them.

Obama seems to be a lot better than that chimpanzee you had in office previously.

 

[Teelie]

Just saw coverage of Obama's press conference on the BBC news channel. Some reporter asked him what he thought about this, and he said that the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" in arresting a guy who had just proved he was in his own home. He did start to elaborate on how this was indicitive of race relations in the US, but the moron BBC correspondant started talking over the top, and I couldn't tell what he was saying.

The cop was stupid to arrest him but it doesn't make it a racist motiviation. Except it does, since that's the only reason possible.

The other comment by Gertch is equally invalid, but then that's the problem this place has; everyone's own opinion is fact, everyone else's opinions are invalid.

 

[Servo]

Just saw coverage of Obama's press conference on the BBC news channel. Some reporter asked him what he thought about this, and he said that the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" in arresting a guy who had just proved he was in his own home. He did start to elaborate on how this was indicitive of race relations in the US, but the moron BBC correspondant started talking over the top, and I couldn't tell what he was saying.

The cop was stupid to arrest him but it doesn't make it a racist motiviation. Except it does, since that's the only reason possible.

Well, Obama wasn't saying it was racially motivated, but when the reporter posed the question, she asked him if it was indicitive of current US race relations. Like I said, I missed his answer.

The other comment by Gertch is equally stupid...

Why am I not surprised?

 

[An Officer]

Only those police officers present know if they arrested him because he was being pompous and abusive and needed to be taught a lesson, or if they arrested him because he was a black man who dared to speak up and take names after mistreatment. Being the states, I'd give it 50/50 which of the two it might have been, and that's being generous. Either way, a ridiculous situation.

 

[kimc]

Like I said before I don't believe an arrest should have been made.

However, I find it hard to believe that a man smart enough to be a Harvard professor isn't smart enough to avoid being arrested in a situation like that. The cop was just doing his job when he showed to investigate. All the professor needed to do was show the id and then say something like "It's comforting to know no one can break into my home without you guys being on it."

Instead the guy accuses the cop of being racist and follows him out of the house while yelling at him. It was almost like he WANTED to be arrested to prove a point. The cops were idiots for playing into that, imo.

 

[Teelie]

Well, Obama wasn't saying it was racially motivated, but when the reporter posed the question, she asked him if it was indicitive of current US race relations. Like I said, I missed his answer.

The other comment by Gertch is equally stupid...

Why am I not surprised?

I edited it to be more "appropriate" for the forum because it'll invariably be taken as a personal attack whereas I just thought the opinion was. And I don't know why you're not surprised. His signature and his remark both make his political leaning obvious and his unwillingness to admit to being wrong about the President even more blatantly obvious.