Two black officers on the Cambridge force have stood solidly by their comrade.
Sgt. Leon Lashley was outside Gates' house when the professor was arrested. He has no problems with the way Crowley handled the situation.
"It happened to be a white officer on a black man, and the common call a lot of times is to call it a racist situation," said Lashley. "This situation right here was not a racial-motivated situation. ... There's nothing rogue about him. He was doing his job."
Lashley acknowledged that if he, as a black officer, had entered the home first, it likely would've been a different outcome.
Kelly King, another African-American Cambridge officer, said she has known Crowley for more than a decade and that he's "a good police officer, a good man with character."
"I think Professor Gates has done a very good job of throwing up a very effective smokescreen, calling race into this. It had nothing to do with it," she told CNN's Don Lemon with Crowley at her side.
If this is the case then the white officer has suffered prejudice and racism.
Pure and simple.
If we are going to be against prejudice and racism we need to be against it... at all times... no matter who it is from.
"What it made me realize was how vulnerable all black men are -- how vulnerable all people of color are and all poor people to capricious forces like a rogue policeman," he said. "It was the fault of a policeman who couldn't stand a black man standing up for his rights right in his face."
I understand Gate's may be a good guy, but someone needs to help him re-assess the situation. This was no rogue cop. Gates should admit he completely over-reacted (blame it on jet lag if need be) and stop trying to make this an issue on race, when it wasn't.
More...
Quote:
Two black officers on the Cambridge force have stood solidly by their comrade. Sgt. Leon Lashley was outside Gates' house when the professor was arrested. He has no problems with the way Crowley handled the situation.
"It happened to be a white officer on a black man, and the common call a lot of times is to call it a racist situation," said Lashley. "This situation right here was not a racial-motivated situation. ... There's nothing rogue about him. He was doing his job."
Lashley acknowledged that if he, as a black officer, had entered the home first, it likely would've been a different outcome.
Kelly King, another African-American Cambridge officer, said she has known Crowley for more than a decade and that he's "a good police officer, a good man with character."
"I think Professor Gates has done a very good job of throwing up a very effective smokescreen, calling race into this. It had nothing to do with it," she told CNN's Don Lemon with Crowley at her side.
Again, from this and other accounts, it appears the only racist present at the arrest was the scholar, Gates.
So when will someone stand up and say, "Professor Gates, you may be well respected in your field, however you messed up here and owe the officer and others who have experienced true racism an apology for the smear and lies you've told against the officer?"
I wouldn't read or watch anything from Gates ... not after this. He has no credibility now. He lied about this incident, so what's to say he hasn't lied about other things ... other times he's encountered racism? Sorry, but that's just me.
I am sure the policeman is on eggshells. They may have him fired when he gets back. Chrysler had threats. If he pulled something politically incorrect and asked for a colt 45 malt liquor, it could mean gitmo.
Statement from Sgt Crowleys fellow officer who was at the scene of the scholars arrest:
Quote:
...Meanwhile, a black Cambridge police sergeant on the scene the day of Gates' arrest wrote a letter to Crowley, asking him to mention to Gates and Obama that he is now known as the "black sergeant" and to some others as an "uncle Tom."
"I'm forced to ponder the notion that as a result of speaking the truth and coming to the defense of a friend and colleague, who just happens to be white, that I have somehow betrayed my heritage," Sgt. Leon Lashley wrote. "Please convey my concerns to the president that Mr. Gates' actions may have caused grave and potentially irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony in this country and perhaps throughout the world.
Lashley wrote in the letter he would like Gates to reflect on the incident and ask himself what responsibility he bears, what he can do to heal the rift and what he can do to mitigate the damage done to the officers' reputations.
This is what I stated previously. Gates has cause damage to race relations by crying racism in a case when there was none.
It's disappointing that this oft-noted "renowned" scholar seems too arrogant to admit the officer was not acting in a racist manner, nor was the arrest motivated by race. Of course, BHO is also too arrogant to admit that he was wrong for jumping in and criticising the officers without knowing what actually happened.
Gates may be a scholar, but he was a dunce and fool for doing what he did.
If I were Crowley, because of Gates' arrogance and non-apology, I would file suit for the slander Gates has caused - both of Crowley himself and the other officers.
Now, I am amazed that this Boston cop got so upset about this incident that even days afterwards he was unable to control himself. He is on leave for this gem of a letter that he wrote and sent to a columnist. Among the wonderful things he had to say about the incident:
“His first priority of effort should be to get off the phone and comply with police, for if I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC deserving of his belligerent non-compliance.”
“He indeed has transcended back to a bumbling jungle monkey, thus he forever remains amid this nation’s great social/racial divide…”
“Gates is a *********** fool and you the article writer simply a poor follower and maybe worse, a poor writer. Your article title should read CONDUCT UNBECOMING a JUNGLE MONKEY-BACK TO ONE’S ROOTS"
Of course he later cleaned it all up when he said "“I regret that I used such words. I have so many friends of every type of culture and race you can name. I am not a racist.”
I personally think that we can use this as a learning tool. Is there a problem with racism including police officers? Yes. Is every situation that is thought to be about race really about race? No.
The problem is that in many places, the problem is so prevalent that there will be times when the accuser may be off. I think that this officer's description of how he would react to being disrespected by a "jungle monkey" is not unique to only him.
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Either the United States will destroy ignorance, or ignorance will destroy the United States. – W.E.B. DuBois
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