Gay Conservative

Now this is classy. Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was arrested for disorderly conduct at his home by Cambridge police officers who were called by a neighbor reporting a possible break-in. In the wake of the arrest, President Obama publicly said that the officers acted “stupidly,” immediately jumping to the defense of his friend and echoing the sentiment that professor Gates had initially yelled at the officers:

“This is what happens to black men in America!”

Oooooh, boy. Here we go again.

A neighbor had called police to report that she saw two black men with backpacks trying to break in the front door. When officers arrived, at first Gates refused to provide ID, then later provided proof that it was his home and what the neighbor had seen was them trying to open a jammed front door (all he was willing to give was a Harvard University ID card). Okay. But when the officer asked to speak to him outside (something I’ve seen officers do on all manner of calls to avoid the appearance of invading someone’s personal space during a civil conversation), Gates replied, “yeah, I’ll speak with your mama outside!”

This sparked off a heated argument between Gates and the two officers, who then arrested him for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. If you read the report, you’ll find that before Sgt. Crowley (the first officer on scene) even introduced himself, Gates was being verbally combative–starting off with the “black man in America” comment, calling Sgt. Crowley a racist police officer and telling him that it was none of his business. In the middle of all of it, Gates told the good sergeant that he had no idea who he was dealing with.

Gates screamed a litany of threats at the officers in full view of no fewer than seven civilians who had stopped to gawk at Gates’ screaming fit. He all but chased Sgt. Crowley out of the house and then stood on his porch and continued to scream at the officers, calling them racists and refusing to hear anything anyone had to say. He was only arrested when he refused to calm down and stop disturbing the peace.

When a police officer comes to your home, common sense should tell you to calmly answer questions about your identity, provide an ID if it is requested, and if you’re doing nothing wrong, there won’t be a problem. It is plain to anybody with more than two operative brain cells that this incident could have been avoided if Gates had simply been civil with the officers instead of having an apoplectic fit in public.

President Obama refuses to apologize for his remarks about the officers. He has since openly defended saying that they “acted stupidly” and has defended leveling accusations of racism at a highly-decorated and well-respected police officer so he can defend a close friend. This proves that he has no respect for our police or for the law that they are sworn to uphold. He should be ashamed of his friend for behaving like a maniac and, even moreso, ashamed of himself for defending such behavior.

According to the commander of the Cambridge police department, the morale in their department has dropped significantly as a result of Obama’s remarks and disdain. I hope everyone involved remembers this incident the next time they need the police.